What's going on Here?
by Raenef the 6th
Summary: What happens when the carefully fabricated world of Symphonia gets wrecked by me? Utter chaos and humor, that's what! Not a cliche selfinsert!
1. A strange beginning pt1

Welcome to the crazy world of Raenef the 6th! This is my first self-insert fic, so please be nice! I know that many self-inserts involve ridiculous storylines, but this shall be taken as a story with an actual plot, and will have many strange moments, courtesy of me. So please enjoy, and don't flame or I will make you take school lessons from Zelos, which might make you stupid.

Zelos: Hey, I gratuated at the top of my class!

Raenef: Yeah, but you cheated through your _Hunnies,_ and that almost never works for you in the future.

Zelos: Are you saying I'm stupid?

Raenef: No, I'm saying you're smarter than Genis, NOT!

Zelos: Why are you so mean to me?

Raenef: Disclaimer!

Presea: Raenef the 6th does not own Tales of Symphonia, but owns his own story.

Mithos P.O.V

Tick…Tick…Tick…Tick…Brrrrrrrriiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnngg! "SCHOOL'S OUT!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, ignoring all the stares of the public around me. "Finally!" a bit less loud, but not by much!

"Do you ever, _ever_, shut up!" asked the very (compared to me) tall blond guy on my right, before slapping on my head. My poor head.

"Nope. School's out for the summer!" I then break out into my own little percussion moment. For this, I receive a slap on the head, AGAIN.

"What is with you man? God, you act like nobody's around us, but half the school is still here, more specifically, RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU!"

We have just finished school, and as you can tell, I'm very excited. After all, I'm only 15 years old. Guy's gotta enjoy his freedom. I can now return to my peaceful life of playing Tales of Symphonia, 24/7, along with my blond, violent friend. I'm staying at his house since both of our parents are on vacation. I have to admit, we've been pretty good housewatchers, aside from almost blowing up the stove, not my fault!

When we finally reach the end of our epic journey across the street and arrive at his house, we immediately run to the gamecube, forgetting everything else in the process, including our summer homework. As we play, we begin to talk.

"Say, wouldn't it be cool if we were in this? We would kick butt!" I asked.

"Yeah, we would. I would kill any monster I fought, easily." He responds.

"What about…Mithos?"

"Easy."

"_You really think so?_"

"Of course, I could."

"Dude that wasn't me…" I say shaking.

"But if you didn't, then who…"

Then suddenly, there was a blinding flash of light, then nothing but darkness.

Tren P.O.V

I slowly awaken after being knocked out by some mysterious force. I look around at my surroundings and find Mithos a few feet away. I groggily get up and run over to him, worried that he might be injured, only to find him… asleep!

"Grr… WAKE UP!" I shout and whack him upside the head. He finally wakes up, only to scream in my ear,

"AAAHHHH! Raine! Don't hurt me! Oh, it's just you. AAAHHH! Don't hurt me!"

"SHUT UP!" I yell as I slap him again. "Wait, where are we? This place doesn't look familiar to me."

"It does to me!" Mithos exclaims proudly, yet stubbornly.

"Shut up, you're acting like a five year old."

"So?"

"Excuse me, if you're done shouting at each other."

We both turn to face the new voice who had spoken. We find before us a man who appeared to be 20 years of age. He had blond hair, tied into a ponytail, and stared at us with sapphire eyes. He was dressed in jeans and a simple black t-shirt.

"And you are…?" I question, wondering how he snuck up on us so quietly.

"I am Trill, and I welcome you to Iselia, in the land of Sylvarant."

Mithos snorts, "Trill, that's a hilarious na-HOLY CRAP! WE'RE IN SYMPHONIA!"

"How is this possible? Did you do this?" I directed this last question to Trill.

"Yes, I did, though I only meant to get one person. Who was going to play as Lloyd?"

I raise my hand to answer his question.

"Who were you going to play as?" This question was directed at Mithos.

"Genis…" He replies shyly

"Oh, well. The more, the merrier, I believe."

"So, what are we doing here?" Mithos questioned meekly

"You're friend said he could beat Mithos, so I'm giving him the chance to try. You just happened to be sucked in, too. Maybe for Comic relief, I don't know. I don't really control this stuff."

"Then who does?" Mithos asks.

"Noneya business. Anyway, do you want to or not?"

"Sure." We both state simply.

"Okay then, let's get started. First, you might want to look in the mirror, you look a _little _different than you did on Earth."

I first take the mirror and notice some changes right off the bat. My hair, which was once curly to a ridiculous state, had become flattened, with bangs over my forehead. My eyes color had been split into two colors, one green and one blue. My skin was clear of any oil or acne. Yes, the Great War against acne was finally over! I move the mirror back a bit and notice my clothing had changed too. My shorts and t-shirt were gone and replaced with a pair of blue jeans with a belt, and I also had on a white t-shirt and a red and black leather jacket. Finally, it ended with a pair of leather boots. In all honesty, I looked good. I then handed the mirror to Mithos and let him have his turn.

His face also was free of blemish, and his hair was a little longer, which just added to the already considerable length. And then I noticed his ears. They were pointed. He was an elf, no, a half-elf. This is going to throw a monkey wrench into things. And his eyes they were golden, well that is just weird. He was wearing long green pants, also with belt and a long sleeve black shirt and a khaki colored bandana. And leather boots, again.

"Well, we look…different." I remarked.

Mithos smiled at the mirror, and then came to a shocking revelation: his braces had vanished! Duh duh duh!

Mithos stuttered out "D-di-Did you do this, Trill?"

"Uh, yes?" he replied, worried he might be injured in a few seconds.

Mithos immediately leaped up and hugged Trill. "THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU!"

"Okay, Okay! You're welcome, now get off, you're trashing my clothes."

Mithos then hopped off and took a few steps back. "Sorry."

Trill then brushed himself off, and resumed talking. "Now that that's over, let's move on to the weapons. First up, Mithos."

Mithos walked over cautiously to Trill.

"Hold out your hands."

Mithos did as such, and was presented with a sword and shield. It was a simple wooden shield and steel sword.

"Wow, just like Kratos!" He then stuck his belt through the sheath and tied the shield to his back with rope, provided by Trill. He then took a few steps back into place.

"Next, is Tren." I then proceeded just like Mithos did towards Trill and held out my hands. I was awarded a pair of Steel Plate Gauntlets. I looked at Trill questioningly and asked "What are _these_ for?"

"_These_ are your weapons. You are a fist fighter."

I look at him with a blank expression and wonder how to use these in a fight. What can I do, Steal an enemy's weapon or something?

"Allow me to explain. Eventually, you'll obtain attachments to you're gauntlets. You'll start with just you're fists and then you can obtain modified gauntlets with weapons attached. Mainly claw-like weapons. Mostly you'll fight with you're fists, but you can learn how to fight in different styles eventually."

"Oh, now I get it. I fight with my fists." I speak, finally enlightened with some information. After all, would you have fought against dragons and lava creatures and such with only your bare hands? No, I didn't think so. Besides, First Aid does have its limits to healing.

"Next, are the Exspheres." Said Trill. He snapped his fingers and exspheres immediately appeared on our hands, mine on my right, Mithos' on his left. Mine, I noticed, was Jet Black, while Mithos' was silver. "Why is mine silver and his black?" Mithos asked, curious to the odd colors of our exspheres. "You're exsphere represents the mixing of mana between fire and thunder."

"What?" Mithos questioned, looking completely dumbfounded.

"It means you can only use fire and thunder spells." "Oh, I don't like any other spells anyway."

"What about mine? Why is it so…dark?"

"Because," Trill responded, "You wield the powers of darkness in your exsphere. These powers are powers of good, however, not evil. It gets complicated from there."

"Okay, then. Now what? We have our clothes, our weapons, and our exspheres, what's left?"

"Simple, your back-story. You can't just go around and say you are from Earth, it would freak everyone out, and you don't want to freak out people, especially Lloyd, or even worse, Raine."

"He's got a point, you know." Mithos stated matter of factly.

"Here's what you're going to say. You are both from Luin. Mithos, your parents were killed when you were an infant because you are a half-elf. You were found by Tren's parents while they were traveling abroad. They brought you home and raised you there. Then one day, four years ago, you were sent out of Luin to go look for Mithos who was wandering outside the city, exploring. When you got back, Desians had attacked the village and taken your parents away to the ranch. You then left Luin, since you had nowhere else to go, and have been wandering from city to city for the past four years after that. Your travels brought you to Iselia, where you hoped to find the chosen and join her on the Journey of World Regeneration to avenge the loss of your parents."

"All right, kind of long, but I guess it'll work. Now what?" I asked, growing a little sleepy after standing for so long.

"Now, you train. Let's set you up against some Zombies, shall we?" Trill answered. As he spoke, we turned to find ourselves faced against seven zombies. They each wandered over to us, moaning and groaning like adults without coffee. I then pondered for a moment how a zombie would be affected by coffee, but decide to worry about it later.

"This is gonna be a long day." I sighed, crackling my Steel Plated knuckles. "And it was going to start off so nice and quiet."

"Yep. Oh well, let's get to work." Mithos replied, pulling out his sword and shield to fight said zombies.

Author's notes:

Raenef: Well, is anyone confused? Good, because so am I. Anyway, one can tell that I have a lot of work to do, as well as alot of explaining. Updates may be slow due to...to...**_school!_** Gasp! I'm still in school! How shocking! Oh, well. Read and Review!


	2. A strange beginning pt2

Raenef: Yes, I have finally reached chapter 2! My story can progress!

Zelos: You didn't answer my question last time!

Me: What, about you being stupid or not?

Zelos: Yes!

Me: Oh, that. Yeah, I consider you to be stupid at times, but not as bad as Lloyd.

Lloyd: WHAT!

Me: Remember, I own nothing except my story!

Have you ever seen someone fight someone else? Usually it consists of merely punching and kicking the other person until they give up or fall unconscious. Sometimes they even use weapons like knives or brass knuckles. This case however, is vastly different. For starters, Zombie skin doesn't exactly stay when you hit it; it just flakes off like crusty paint off a wall. Second, when you punch hard enough, your fist will go through the Zombie's flesh, with the unfortunate result of having your hand stuck in its body, while it just continues to try and hit you! And thus was the situation that I was in while trying to defend myself from the hoard of the undead. Of course, Mithos had an easy enough time fighting; all he had to do was swing his sword and cut them up into tiny pieces. He didn't have to worry about getting stuck.

Oh, and did I forget to mention there's TOO MANY ZOMBIES TO HANDLE! There all over the place, like moms shopping at a Christmas sale in a mall. I start the fight by trying to lunge at one of them, fists ready to inflict harm, but when I make contact, his limb just falls off while he keeps moving. I try to swing at his head, but only graze it. Apparently, I need practice. I duck a blow from the monster and try again, succeeding this time and knocking off its head with an uppercut. I move on to the next opponent, only to be struck off guard by one behind me. I fall to the ground and roll out of the way and get a glimpse of how we're doing. Mithos is fighting off two zombies at once holding one back with his shield and trying to get the other to let go of his sword from its stomach. I consider him to be okay and resume my fight with my two zombies.

You know, I never considered myself to be a violent person. True, every once in a while, I would whack Mithos upside the head, but that's because he was being stupid. Like one time, we were at school eating lunch, when I got up to grab a snack. When I return, I find my French fries missing and someone walking off from the table with more French fries than the usual serving. I ask him what he did and he simply said he thought he was hungry and gave him my French fries. I then question him, with my rage slowly building, if it occurred to him to ask me. He simply stated no and went back to eating. Afterwards, when he left, he was nursing a sore spot on his head, and I walked alongside, feeling justified, ignoring the strange stares from the other students. Stop rambling, Tren, and get on with the fight! Sorry, bad habit.

I jump up and rush towards my enemies, fists ready to go. They had they're backs turned, so I stuck my arms out like steel poles and gave them a double hanger, knocking them off their feet, and unfortunately, also separating their upper torso from it's lower part with a sickening SCCRRRICH! I grimace at the sound and resist the urge to be sick and look for Mithos again. He had fought off his two enemies, and was now facing off against another. I realized then that if he keeps up this pace, he's going to run out of strength, and he was already tired seeing as how he was panting and sweating as if he had ran 6 miles straight. I then thought of something that would make me slap myself silly if we weren't in a fight: we have techs we can use. I then yell to him,

"USE YOUR MAGIC, YOU IDIOT!"

He looks at me for a moment before realization dawns on his face and smiles. He then pushes his opponent back a few feet with his shield and puts some distance away from him. He puts his sword in his sheath and adorns a look of focus. Bright red glowing mana issues out from under him, while magic runes circle around him. Finally, the runes regather around him and he points his open palm towards the zombie and cries out "Fireball!" And just like that, three balls of fire shoot out and set the zombie aflame. It then proceeds to run around on fire until it finally stops and falls to the ground, collapsing into a pile of ashes. After that, there were no more zombies to use for training, considering one's a pile of smoldering remains while the others are too dismembered to even move, let alone pose a threat. We then look ourselves over, realizing for the first time that we were covered with splotches of liquids that looked like a failed attempt at making food. Of course, what should one expect from fighting dead corpses? Water? Maybe, I dunno, even maybe actually a little blood, but no we had to fight the ones with dead juice. And I'm rambling again.

Trill reappeared, looking impressed at our ability to fight. He then spoke, with a look of curiosity,

"Where did you learn to fight like that?"

I respond with "Mine is easy enough, just swing like a maniac. His, however, I think is a copy of Kratos' fighting style. He always was obsessed with trying to be like him, though he always failed miserably."

Mithos got mad and yelled "I am not obsessed! I just think he's cool beyond words and kicks ass is all!"

I reply "Then why do you have a Kratos plushy in your room that you hide from everyone except me? And why do you have posters of him? And why does your screen name say 'Kratosfan1'? And…"

"Okay, okay! So maybe I had a slight obsession with him. That doesn't mean I'm trying to be him!" Mithos stated quietly, while turning his head to hide a blush of embarrassment being caught.

"Anyway, moving on…" Trill replied, "I guess you two can defend yourselves to say the least. I just hope you don't overdo it when you fight."

"What do you mean 'overdo it'?" I question curiously. "I thought we did just fine."

"From my point of view, it looks like you were aiming for a massacre when you fight, and that was only against mere zombies."

I look back for a second to reassess the damage, and my eyes widen a little when I see random limbs scattered all over the place, with ooze dripping out of them, the same ooze that was on our clothes. Nasty ooze, Hope I can at least wash the stench off.

"Okayy…maybe we overdid it slightly." I state, surprised that we had done that much in such little time.

"If by overdid it, you mean you obliterated them unnecessarily, then yeah, you did." Trill said, looking ever so slightly sickened at the sight behind us. Hey, I don't blame him, you'd be sickened too if you fought a bunch of undead creatures and was left covered in some sort of blood or liquid or something along those lines, let alone the stench. Oh god, the stench! It smelt like rotten meat blended with garbage and doused with remains from a pig's trough. It was so rank, I almost had tears in my eyes. I would so kill for some air freshener, but that just would be asking for too much. I then decided to ask Trill a couple of questions that I didn't get to ask last time, as well as some new ones dealing with how we fight. The first question being one that was tough to figure out was one I had to ask.

"Excuse me, but how are we supposed to meet up with Lloyd and the others? Are we supposed to just run into them or what?" I hope he has a good answer because I am stumped at how to solve this. It's not like you can just wander up to Lloyd and say hi and be friends all of a sudden. If I could, that would be easy, but I seriously doubt anything's going to be easy now.

"I suppose you could meet with them on their way to the temple, maybe, I don't know, help out while their fighting a monster or something." He answered, as if this was something easy to think of. Yeah right.

"Also, you didn't exactly finish explaining about my exsphere. Why was I given the powers of Darkness, and how am I even going to even use them?"

Trill seemed to sigh, as if he was expecting this. He then cleared his throat and sat down on a nearby rock. Following the initiative, Mithos and I had a seat on the ground. He then took a deep breath and began his explanation. "It's actually kind of simple, yet complicated at the same time. You see, nearly every element has had its exposure time in this game, except for darkness. Usually, the only dark attacks are Dark Sphere and Bloody Lance, and those aren't even accessible to the game's characters. So, since you're going to be a new character, I figured I might as well make you special and give you a dark element base. As for using these powers, that's where it gets complicated. Since you are using a new element that means there is going to be some different abilities available to you that no one else can use. You'll be able to cast dark magic eventually, but not for a while. Also, you will be capable of doing things no normal exsphere equipped person can do, but just like before, these abilities will form and make themselves known in time." He then finally stopped and took a deep breath, saying so much in one breath can be quite difficult you know.

"When you say 'capable of doing things no other exsphere equipped person can do, what do you mean? And besides that, you said earlier that my powers are the powers of good, not evil. What do you mean, and could these possibly affect me in some way?"

Trill looked surprised at my question, I think he was expecting a simpler question, but just goes to show that curiosity is limitless. He then responded "When I say the powers of good, I mean that your powers are the true strength of darkness. Most darkness attacks are widely destructive and uncontrolled, while these will be easier to control and not so big, but can be just as effective. As for how it might affect you, I'm not sure. You might not even be affected at all and remain completely normal, or you could change dramatically in many ways, such as your appearance or your attitude among other things. To be honest, I really don't know what to expect, so just be careful with yourself."

You would think after hearing this that most of my questions would be answered and I wouldn't worry about anything else. I was far from it. He said that he doesn't know what to expect, and he's supposed to be the one who brought us here! And the powers I'm supposed to receive. What will they be like? Will they be cool looking and good to use, or will they be useless and dull? And even more confusing is how am I supposed to use them properly even if I do get them? I just simply take my head and lay it in my hands and groan out load. I then decide to just say screw it, worry about it later, and move on. I then ask a question that I'm certain was on my mind as soon as this all started.

"Okay, putting aside all the darkness stuff, who exactly are you? I mean, are you a real person or a spirit or what? And how did you pull us into here?" I ask, hoping for a shorter answer.

Trill looked at me as if I had asked him to dress up like a clown and do back flips. Okay, I sometimes have a crazy imagination, but you get my point, he was confused.

"What do you mean us?"

"What do you mean, what do you mean? I'm talking about me and Mithos." I reply, now confused as to why he's confused.

"What I mean is that your friend isn't here anymore, he left." Trill stated, looking as if I should have known this already.

I then realize something, why Mithos was so quiet this whole entire time. I twist my head to look where Mithos was sitting last I noticed so quickly, I hurt my neck, but when I look, he isn't there. He was gone. This is not good. My only friend, who was the only person besides me involved in this, had vanished. I am all alone in Tales of Symphonia with only a physical embodiment of some random person to talk with. I am now officially screwed.

Author's notes:

So many words to type, arrgh, it's difficult. Okay, time to answer a few questions that are probably on your mind. First is dealing with Mithos. I was originally going to include him into the story, but figured that running two different people at the same time would be too strenuous and confusing to keep up with, so I had to remove him. Sorry if you liked him and his short appearance, but it's too difficult a task for my 14 year old mind to deal with.

Next is concerning the Dark exsphere, which is what I've chosen to label the exsphere that Tren has to wield. For starters, before anyone can flame, I am not going to give myself ridiculous powers that would make me look super powerful. I refuse to follow the cliché of being all powerful, as tempting as it is. Also, be aware that it will cause character development for Tren, and what I have planned might be very surprising to some of you.

Finally, I would like to thank Mez10000. You fortunately reminded me to set my limits on my character, as well as how to avoid making this look like some cheap spin-off. Don't worry, I will try to make this as original as I can, but if anyone wants to make a suggestion of what to do, I'm all ears. Remember to read and review!


	3. Going it Alone

Me: Time to start chapter 3!

Zelos: What's gonna happen this time, eh? Will it actually be good this time?

Me: Quiet you! (Slaps Zelos on top of his head, Raine-style)

Zelos: Why do you torture me so?

Me: Because it's fun, that's why. Remember, I own nothing, so don't sue me! Besides, I'm broke.

Why does stuff like this always happen to me? This is ridiculous. One minute, I'm living my normal life with my best friend on Earth, nothing strange, nothing important, just normal. Then the next, I'm warped into my favorite game, presented with weapons and such, and expected to just be kosher with it, not to mention my best friend who was brought with me, has just vanished into thin air. Come on, be serious. As of right now, I'm panicking and running around in circles, while Trill watches in the same spot he was sitting in, looking slightly amused. If you happened to catch what I was yelling, it would sound something like, "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON? WHERE THE HELL IS MITHOS? WHY MUST I SUFFER LIKE THIS? I AM ALL ALONE!" This goes on for a few minutes until Trill finally gets up, grabs me, slaps me on the face a couple of times, and sits back down. I finally stop, shake my head, and thank him for the wake-up, though tripping me could've worked.

After sitting back down, I look at Trill for an explanation. He just sits there and stares back. After a few minutes of an intense staring contest, my eyes cannot take anymore and I blink. I then ask Trill "Well?"

He looks back and questions, "Well, what?"

"You know well what. What just happened to my friend?"

"Oh, that. I thought you were trying to challenge me to another staring contest."

"My only friend in this world besides you just disappears before our eyes, and you're worried about a staring contest?" I question incredulously. (A/N: Thank God for thesauruses.")

"Well, it was an intense contest, you know. Shame you lost." He replied nonchalantly, getting up and walking off into the field of slain zombies.

"Oh, come on! Focus, would you! I'm trying to figure out what just happened here!" I yell, expecting an answer to be given.

"Well, if you really want to know, I sent him back."

"You WHAT?!" I scream.

"You heard me, I sent him back." He stated, kicking a zombie arm out of the way and landing with a thump on another zombie's body. Ooh, I think that zombie was still sort of alive, seeing as how it twitched when the arm landed. GRRR! Focus, Tren, Dammit! Your Earth friend is gone, in case you forgot!

"What do you mean you sent him back?! I want some answers!" I state angrily. How can he be so calm? True, he can do just about anything he wants to in this dimension, or at least I think he can, but he could at least show more concern about Mithos than about where he walks.

"Calm down, Tren. Anger will get you nowhere." Trill walks over to me and puts a hand on my shoulder. I sigh and grumble quietly, and decide to sit down. He then sits down on another boulder and looks at me. "You remember when I first brought you here, that I said I meant to bring only you, and grabbed Mithos by accident, right?" I nod in response, recalling that memory. Trill continued "Well, as it turns out, it was too much of a strain on me to keep both of you in here, let alone creating your weapons and exspheres and such. So, I had to send him back, otherwise, the strain would have been too much to handle, and everything would have to have been scrapped, including you."

I look at him for a moment before asking, "And by scrapped, you mean…"

"What I mean is that you probably would have died before I could have a chance to send you back." Trill stated, looking at me with eyes that seemed to reflect sorrow.

I then gulp and look down at my feet. "Oh…" is all I can manage to say. _If Mithos hadn't disappeared, I could have died?_ I regain my composure for a moment and look up to Trill. "Why would I have died?" I ask.

"Because, you are a character now. You are part of this dimension and its works. Since you're involved in it, if this world gets destroyed, you get destroyed." Trill responds, looking stern for a moment before a look of concern crosses his face. "Are you feeling okay? You aren't feeling sick, are you?" He questions.

I look down a moment before answering. Wow, I'm emotional today, from happiness to anger to shock. Of course, I'm a teenager, so would you expect any less from me? "Well, I am a little shocked at hearing this, to be honest. Is there anything else I should know about?"

Trill closes his eyes for a moment to think. When he reopens them, He answers with "Well, I guess there are a few things I should clue you in on, the first dealing with what I am. I'm not going to try to sound all fancy, so I will tell you straight off: I…am your gamecube, or at least, a human form of it. Now, I know it sounds crazy, but it's true. How else do you think I brought you into this dimension?" He probably said this in response to my face screwing up like as if I was about to explode with laughter. Well think about it. How would you respond to someone walking up to you and saying they were the physical reincarnation of one of your game consoles, besides from either knocking them out with your fist or walking away quickly, muttering about crazy people and when they are drunk? Then you completely understand why I am having such a hard time trying not to laugh. I finally calm down, accepting his answer. "Okay, is there anything else?" I ask, hoping for a more serious answer, and not a gut-buster like that one was. Has anyone noticed how many things I have hoped for lately, with none of them actually being granted? I mean, come on, and throw me a bone here. I would like to be listened to at least once. And I'm rambling again. Shutting up now!

"Yes, it concerns the relationship factor of the game." And with that, everything freezes. _Oh Shit, not good._ It is never good when the topic of any conversation turns towards relationships, especially for guys. And it can be only worse for me since I have to be in the game where I could possibly end up in a relationship with one of the girls. Trill, apparently starting to show signs as a mind-reader, looks at my face and quickly says "Oh No, it has nothing to do with **that**." _Oh, thank you heavenly father above._ We dodged a bullet there, or four bullets, as the case may be. "Now, I'm not saying that it won't happen, but I'm not saying it will either." _Oh, come on, make up your mind, yes or no?_ I think, wondering if he's trying to convince me to try something or if he's just messing with me. Trill continues "I'm only telling you this because you need to be cautious. Remember that you can't tell them you are from Earth, or else that might lead to some odd questions." I can understand what he's saying here, since Raine would be a catastrophe all by herself. Can anyone say "Ultra-Ruin Mode"? "Also, it might be wise to have a good friendship with Lloyd and Genis, since they might be suspicious about you if you just pop out of nowhere, ready to help them for no reason, unless they are in a fight or something."

I lean back for a moment soaking all this new information and advice in, realizing it's going to be a long journey, longer than what it took to finish the game fully at least. If all this is going to be factored in the game, then this will take at least a month, if not longer! I then straighten up, ready for the next piece of advice.

"This last bit is pretty important, because it directly has to deal with you. As you know, decisions have to be made by the group during the journey, and those decisions lead to certain events. You may need to make decisions that affect the group and what they do, so be ready for them. Also, your new presence may cause changes to the game itself, some little and some big. Did you get all of that?" Trill ends, looking at me like Raine does during her lessons, sternly and patiently waiting for an answer.

"Yes, sir. Crystal Clear, sir!" I say doing a mock salute and then laughing at myself and my silliness, or craziness depending on what you think of me. Trill smiles in a sort of smirk and stands up. "Well then, I guess I'll be on my way." He starts to leave when I yell "Hey, wait! Will I ever talk to you again?" He turns around and looks at me. "Of Course you will, I'm your gamecube, for Pete's sake. If you ever want to talk to me, just think in your head you want to talk to me, and I'll be there." He then turns around and starts to walk off again when I stop him again. "Wait!" I cry. He turns back again and questions "What now? I've told you everything you need to know." "Yeah, except for one thing: where do I go from here?" I reply.

He points in the direction of a clearing of what I guess is west of us. "Head that way, it should lead you to where you need to go." He yells. I look over to the clearing for a moment to make sure I knew where he pointed. When I looked back, there was nothing there but air. "Sheesh, doesn't even bother to say good-bye, how lazy." I think out loud. _"I heard that." _"YAHH!" I shout and look around wildly. "Don't do that!" I yell to no one in particular. "_Sorry, couldn't resist, Hehe."_ I groan out loud and start walking towards the clearing that Trill had designated.

As I walk, my mind began to wander over all the information that  
Trill and I had discussed, and I still had questions about many things. Like I said before, Curiosity can be endless in some people. Look at Raine. She was curious about Ruins and still is today. Anyway, before I lose track, there were things that still bothered me. Like for example, what will happen when I reach the end of the journey, or how the game will be changed by my influence, like Trill had said? That's not the only the only thing I'm curious about. The relationships feature that Trill mentioned has me slightly worried. What would happen if I did get into some kind of special relationship with someone? How would that affect me and the character involved? I shudder at these thoughts, knowing they'll cause me trouble if I worry too much about them. The rest of my curiosity is directed in two ways: one being towards Mithos and how he's doing and the rest being directed towards my Exsphere. My curiosity towards Mithos is important, because I can only imagine what he could be doing right now. I don't know if he would be worrying about me or about how he got warped back into the real world. In fact, he could not know about this at all. Trill might have erased the memory of this incident from him and wiped his memory about me as well. I feel slightly sad at this thought, seeing as how it's actually highly likely his memory's been erased and has forgotten about me. My curiosity towards my exsphere could also be considered a little bit of fear. After all, having something that is supposed to be powerful and not knowing how to wield it can make a person scared like that. What if I need it during a fight and I don't know how to use it? It would be pretty useless then. Or what if I learn how to use it properly, but lose control and end up hurting someone? All these questions that run through my head are all questions I hope will be answered in time. One thing I know for sure though, the life I had back on Earth, will be nothing compared to this.

A/N: Whew, it takes forever to think this stuff up. But it'll be worth it if I get good reviews. So what did everyone think of this chapter? It certainly should have directed some curious minds toward my character and how his life has changed. For better or worse, I can't say, but it should be fun!

Also, I would like to take a moment to present thanks to a certain author whose own fanfiction helped me to provide ideas for my own story. Venus Tenshi's fic (Hope I spelled that right), Two Worlds Combined, helped to move my story along. So any seemingly clever or smart ideas you find in my story, might belong to her. As such, I give kudos to Venus, and I wish her luck in her own story. Remember to Read and Review!


	4. Shell Bullet and the First meeting

Me: Welcome to chapter 4! And now, introducing a new muse, here's…..Lloyd!

(Random audience cheers and claps)

Me: Welcome Lloyd! How does it feel to be my personal muse?

Lloyd: It's pretty good, I guess. Better than just sitting to the side, doing nothing.

Zelos: And just what am I supposed to do now, huh?

(Raenef turns to face Zelos, and the computer room resembles Donald Trump's office.)

Me: All I can say is this (stands up) Zelos, You're fired.

Zelos: NOOOOOOOOO! (Runs off, falls through a random window and dies)

Me: Oops, uh… I own nothing.

You think someone would enjoy walking along a forest trail in the middle of nowhere. True, it's peaceful, with no one to bother you, and you don't have to worry about running into other people unless you bring them along. I, however, possess a different opinion. For starters, I can't stand walking. It always takes too long to move and you start to get sore after a good thirty minutes. Next is the silence, save for a few birds or crickets. The silence makes the walk 10 times worse, because it makes you feel anxious for something to happen. What I would have given for something to happen, like a monster tries to jump me or something. Heck, I would have even been glad to run into Kratos or someone, but it appears that god or Martel or whatever holy being is in charge of this world, is against me today, and gave me the quiet path, a path that hopefully leads to Iselia. Oh, what a wonderful time I'm having. I've only been in this place for only nigh 40 minutes and I'm already bored.

During this period of silent torture, I thought about how my influence could change the story. What if I did something dramatic, like defeat a boss before the group meets it, or what if I _accidentally _cause something different to happen, like, I trip Colette when she knocks over that Palma Potion the imposters receive, and instead of being nice to them, we fight them instead. Oh, so many situations and events, there's too many to count. I guess I'll just go with the flow and see what happens. I then stop my walking and sit on a nearby tree stump to rest. I then realize that I'm not necessarily alone, that I can speak to Trill whenever I want to.

"Hey, Trill. You there?"

_Yeah, what's up? Something on your mind?_

"You could say that. How long until I get somewhere out here?"

_Not too much farther, about another thirty minute walk. Is that all?_

I groan, wondering how I'll survive in this world, and if there is any other way to get around besides on a rheiard.

"No, not quite. I've still got some other thoughts"

_No kidding. I'm stuck in here having to deal with them._

"In here?" I ask. Where does he go when he's not here? Inside the gamecube or some other place I don't know about?

_I'm in I guess what you'd call a computer room. I'm trying to figure out all the stuff that need's to be done. I could really use an assistant, you know. It's hard to figure an entire world all by yourself._

"So what do you expect me to do? Think one up and he'll just instantly appear? If I recall right, I'm not basically god in this world, I'm just a humble human being."

_I know, I know! You don't need to get snippy about it! It's just its kind of hard right now, I don't have the time. I'm trying to fix a few pro…_ He suddenly cut off before finishing, but I got the message. You know how teachers in school sometimes try to surprise you with a quiz, but end up telling you beforehand about it? Yeah, same situation, but maybe on a bigger scale.

"Having a little trouble with being super powerful, are we?" I smirk, knowing just saying that would peeve him. It worked.

_Okay, first off, you weren't supposed to hear that, and second, of course it's hard being super powerful. Do you realize how hard it is to resist say, oh I don't know, taking over the world with these powers?! So don't give me any crap about being super powerful alright?! _ He stated heatedly.

"Sheesh, all right, all right! Don't get your panties in a bunch." I mumble.

_All right… HEY! That is not funny!_

I smile and back off. "Okay, so what are these problems?"

_It's nothing you have to worry about, just calm down._ Trill says nervously, trying to act like nothing's wrong… and failing miserably.

"How can I calm down if I know there are problems already and I haven't even done anything yet?"

_It's nothing to worry about; it's just having to patch things up after returning Mithos back to Earth._

"Oh." I state. "By the way, how is Mithos? He isn't freaking out or anything is he?

_No, he isn't. Right now, he's at home, taking it easy. Of course, I wouldn't expect anything else, seeing as how I erased his memory. I'm afraid I had to erase you as well._

"YOU HAD TO ERASE ME?! WHAT, I DON'T EXIST ANYMORE?!" I scream, shocked at this new piece of information. How else was I supposed to take this? As If I'm just going to adapt an overly cool attitude and just take it. (CoughKratosCough)

_Well…yeah. I had to, unless you want everyone to know about all this. Do you realize the psychological impact that would have on everything I've worked on?_

I think about how this might have actually worked out if they knew about it. First, I guess the scientists would take the gamecube and game and try to dissect them and figure out how it works. Then the military would turn it into a weapon somehow, and use it for world domination. And then there would be protestors and international terror and I have successfully ranted yet once again!

"Okay, I guess it's for the best." I sigh. So let's sum things up for those of you who are lost. I'm in the game of Tales of Symphonia, somewhere on the outskirts of Iselia. I have no friends to talk to except a god-like being who is apparently an embodiment of my gamecube. And finally, I no longer exist on Earth, seeing as how everyone's memory is erased. Just wonderful. "Are there any other problems I should know about?" I ask, hoping and praying to whatever god or deity is listening, that the answer is no.

_No, everything else is minor; nothing to bother with, though there is one problem I think you should know about._

"Oh? And what might that be?"

_The fact that you're sitting next to a nest full of angry wasps who think you've invaded their territory might be a problem._

I gulp and look up and sure enough, there's a wasp's nest, filled with the unmistakable sound of buzzing of wings.

"Hey, Trill."

_Yeah?_

"I should run, shouldn't I?"

_That might be a good idea._

"Just checking. AAAAHHHHH!" I yell, sprinting away as fast as my legs could take me. I look back for a second to see stingers stabbed where I was sitting moments before. Then three wasps fly out of the nest and start to fly after me, causing me to do the one thing I could, and that is run for my life. I never did like wasps; they always seem to harbor a grudge against humans for some reason. Then again, we basically kill them every day, so I guess they're entitled to have some anger. But it really seems to be bad for us here, seeing as how the wasps here are bigger than the ones on Earth. I try to lose them through the trees by dodging around them, but they keep up with me regardless. I then think of what I can do to lose them. Now what did they teach us in science class about wasps? Aside from learning that their stingers are poisonous and that they can be relentless when chasing something they consider an enemy to themselves, I didn't really pay that much attention during science class, seeing as how the teacher always just lectured and lectured and lectured. You would fall asleep, and I guarantee this, after the first 5 minutes of sitting there. Well, 3 if you're like Lloyd. But now enough about my education, let's get back to me running for my life. After a good ten minutes of running, I find an open field looking through some trees to my left. I leap to the side to dodge one of the Wasp's attempts to sting me and roll out onto the field. I then proceed to take a few steps back when I realize I had made a big mistake: an open field gives the advantage of movement to the wasps, meaning they can attack me from anywhere they want to. I then prepare myself to fight them as they enter the field as well. The first wasp on my left attacks first, aiming for my shoulder. I lean to the right and he goes flying off behind me. Then the next wasp, the one on my right, attacks next, choosing to aim for my stomach. I leap to the side a split-second before it can hit me. Finally, the third wasp gets smart and aims for my legs. I try to move out of the way, but my left leg ends up getting scratched. I fall and roll to the ground, clutching my leg. I check to see how bad it is, but thankfully it was only a scratch. I then grit my teeth and stand up, ready to face them as they swing around for another shot.

_Hey, Treenn. I've got a move for you._ Spoke Trill, finally appearing with what I hope is good news.

"Yeah? What is it?"

_It's called the Shell Bullet. Go ahead and fight like usual, you'll see. It's cool._

I then glance towards my opponents, who I guess are 20 meters away from me. I charge towards them, gauntlets ready to go. I chose to attack wasp number three, who had reclaimed his spot in the middle of the group. I sprint forward, with only 10 meters of distance between us now. When they're about what I guess is 5 meters away, I leap up, pull back my fist, and throw it forward crying out "Shell Bullet!" Wind starts to form around my fist, giving me a boost in speed and power. When I finally connect with the bug, the wind seems to explode like a miniature sonic boom. This causes the wasp's body to spasm for a moment, and then collapses to the ground, with bug juice leaking out from where my fist connected. The other two wasps had spiraled away after feeling the after effects of the blow. I land and skid for a moment, looking back to see what I did. After surveying the damage, I could only think of one word: "Killer!" Two shell bullets later, I was wasp-free and slightly exhausted. Guess I used up some of my mana more than I expected.

_Well, what do you think? _Trill asked, possibly hoping for some compliments for his assistance.

"Not bad, Trill. That's a pretty good move for starters. Kinda wish you had told me earlier though, so I wouldn't have this scratch on my leg." I reply, glad that I had at least one good move.

_Alright, glad you like it. And look, you even have company now. _Trill states happily, knowing he had done well. I resisted the urge to say "Good boy! Who's a good gamecube?" Like he's Noishe or something

"What do you mean, 'I have company'?" I ask, hoping it's not more monsters.

_Go look beyond those trees over there, and you'll see who I mean. _Trill said, but Trill forgot one little detail: There are tree's EVERYWHERE!

"Uh, Trill? I don't mean to sound smart, but, uh, which trees are you talking about?" I ask, wondering how he made such a Lloydish mistake. I was answered by a random blue arrow pointing to the south.

"Oookayyy…I'll just, uh, look over there." I proceed to wander to the trees, wondering who would be all the way out here in the middle of a forest. As I walk through the brush and around the trees, I start to hear voices yelling to my right. I run towards that direction and stop to catch my breath when I reach a clearing. After all, being in ToS obviously seems to involve exercise, which unfortunately, was not one of my stronger points. After recollecting my breath, I look up and spot three people fighting off a wolf, a hawk, and an evil…rabbit. Yes, that's right, I said "Evil Rabbit", because that's what it is! This makes no sense to me. I'm not saying I'm some kind of animal rights activist, but come on, a rabbit? Rabbits are fluffy and cute and innocent, not evil with red eyes, a weird emblem on their head, and the urge to kick you upside the head. Dammit, stop rambling and get on with the story! Anyways, the three people fighting the band of Evil animals make me catch my breath, for they are a twin-swordsman clothed in red, a blond haired girl who was throwing what looked like Frisbees with a huge hole in the middle, or chakrams, take your pick, and a small boy who looked to be of 12 years of age bouncing a ball up and down on a stick with a rounded off top. Yep, ladies and gentlemen, it's our three favorite teenagers from Tales of Symphonia: Lloyd, Colette, and Genis! I watch awestruck as three of my favorite people fight against their opponents; Lloyd vs. the wolf, Colette vs. the hawk, and Genis vs. the rabbit. Lloyd swings his wooden blade at the wolf trying to knock it unconscious while Colette fights the hawk by throwing her chakrams at and having them return like boomerangs. Genis attempts to cast magic against the rabbit, but has to keep moving to avoid being hit. Lloyd finally succeeds in knocking his opponent down and joins Colette who keeps missing with her chakrams. Genis finally sets some distance between him and the rabbit and manages to cast fireball, setting flame to the rabbit, probably roasting it alive. It finally falls to the ground with a dull THUMP and Genis proceeds to cast wind blade against the hawk. I sat to the side, silently cheering them on, when suddenly, I notice the wolf get back up and set its sights on Genis, who can't see him since his back is turned to it. It begins to charge at him, while the others are oblivious to it. I decide to take action and defend Genis. I charge out of the cover of the forest and into the fray. As I start to close in on the wolf, I realize that it'll get their first before I do, so I do the one logical thing I can: I warn Genis.

"LOOK OUT, KID!" I yell as I close in on the wolf.

Genis stops his spell-casting and turns around in what feels like slow-motion. When he sees the beast charging at him, his eyes widen and he puts his arms up to defend himself the best he can. I put on an extra burst of speed to stop Genis from getting hurt. Finally, right before the wolf can harm him; I lunge forward and cry "Shell Bullet!" making contact with the wolf's side, knocking it away from Genis and making it roll away. I land in front of Genis, who was still in his defensive position, and decide to calm him down.

"Hey, kid. You all right?" I ask, already knowing the answer.

He looks up and is visibly surprised by my presence. "Who…Who are you?" He asks. He probably thinks I'm some kind of powerful warrior or something.

I was about to reply when I notice that the wolf is getting up again. Come on, doesn't this thing ever die? "No time for that, look behind you!" I yell, ready to square off again. He turns to face the wolf, seemingly ready to fight him now. Said wolf then charges at me, apparently enraged at me interrupting his kill. I block his attempt to bite me with one gauntlet, and use my other available arm to throw him over me. While the wolf was recovering from the block, I turn to Genis and form an idea.

"Hey, you can cast magic, right?" I ask.

He looks at me with a questioning look and answers, "Yeah, what about it?"

I smile and reply "I have an idea. I will block for you and hold off the wolf while you can cast your spell. When you are ready, let me know and I will move out of the way so you can burn him with a fireball. Then I can rush him with my fists. It should finish him off."

He grins and says "That's a good idea. What's your name anyway?

I turn to face the wolf and answer "My name is Tren Hitachi, but call me Tren." Ooohh, I'm so dramatic.

The wolf finally gets up and boy is he mad! He snarls at me and attempts to charge again. I grab him by the jaws and hold him down. A few seconds later, Genis yells "Now!" I leap out of the way and watch as the wolf gets hit by the balls of fire dead-on. While he is stunned by the pain, I charge forward and aim for the wolf's head with a shell bullet. It connects with a loud CRACK and the wolf collapses to the ground, not moving or breathing.

"Phew, glad that's over." I sigh, and sit down on the ground, exhausted after fighting so many fights. I close my eyes for a moment and breathe easy when I hear two other footsteps approach me. I open my eyes and see Lloyd and Colette standing over me.

"Uhhh…hello?" I say meekly due to their close proximity.

Lloyd smiles and offers a hand to help me up. I accept it and stand up, realizing that I was oddly as tall as Lloyd. "I saw how you helped Genis. Thanks. I'm afraid we were too busy fighting the hawk to help. Who are you by the way?"

Before I can answer, I trip over a misplaced rock and practically flew into Genis, knocking both me and him to the ground. NOOOOOOOOO, I've become clumsy! Damn you Trill, Damn You and your world-domination fetish! I groan as I lie on the ground and roll off of Genis.

"Sorry, guess I'm a little tired after fighting so much, Hehe." I laugh, slightly embarrassed at my clumsiness.

Colette smiles and replies "Oh, its okay. I trip all the time!"

I get up and get a good look at my three new friends. Lloyd, of course, is dressed in a red shirt lined with buttons up and down the front, and black pants attached to Lloyd by overalls. Tied around his neck are two wispy white cloths whose purpose I have yet to figure out. Next to him on his left is Genis, dressed in his casual sky blue shirt and shorts. On Lloyd's right was Colette, wearing a white sort of clothing whose name I've yet to figure out, which seems to cover most of her body, and has long dark blue socks which I guess substitutes as pants somehow. For just a moment, in my mind, I heard myself think, heh, she's kinda cute. What the heck? Where did that come from? Damn Hormones! I shake it off and finally speak "My name is Tren. I'm glad I was able to help you guys out. Say, what are you doing out here anyway?"

Lloyd replies happily "Oh, We're on our way to the Martel Temple. Colette's going to receive the Oracle since she's the chosen."

I look to Colette and wonder for a split-second why the creators of the game made her the chosen anyway. To me, she seems to be comic relief through her clumsiness. "So you are the chosen of Mana?" When she nods, "My, my! What an honor to meet you!" I then make what I hope to be a humble bow.

Colette seems to blush from being spoken to like that. "Oh, it's alright! You don't need to act like that around me! Besides, everyone tells me I'm not very chosen-like at all."

I then relax a little and say, "All right. Say, do you mind if I tag along with you guys? You might need a little help getting there. Besides, I would like to see this Oracle myself."

Lloyd smiles and replies "Of course you can! The more the merrier! By the way, the name's Lloyd."

I smile back and say "Pleasure to meet you, Lloyd. Well then, shall we get going? Off to the Martel Temple!"

And thus, we walk off towards a road leading to what I expect to be the Martel Temple. As we walk, I realize how lucky I've been so far. Many things could have gone wrong, like Lloyd and the others could have thought I was an enemy and tried to attack me. But I guess all is well for now. I just hope Vidarr isn't too tough to handle, even with Kratos' help.

Author's notes:

Well, that took ages to complete! Sorry to everyone for the slow update. I had to try to get the story down, but I was extremely busy at school. Don't worry; I'm going to try to make more time to work on the story. Perhaps did anyone see any foreshadowing in my story? If not, make sure to pay attention next time! Also, I'm going to hold a poll in my reviews. I want to see if anyone wants there to be a relationship between Tren and one of the girls and if yes, then who should he be with. And a special thanks to my faithful readers. Thank you so much for reading my story, I'll do my best to please and humor you. Remember to read and review! Sayonara!


	5. Davids vs Giant Goliath

Lloyd: Chapter 5! All Right! (Looks around for a moment) Where's Raenef? (Wanders around author's house until he hears crying behind a secluded door.) Raenef? Are you in there?

Me: (Mumbles quietly)

Lloyd: What?

Me: I said GO AWAY! I have no reviews! I don't deserve to type these words! (Continues sobbing)

Lloyd: But you have over 100 hits!

Me: sniff…sniff…Re...Really?

Lloyd: Uh-huh! That means over 100 people have already read your storAUGh! (Get's crushed by door as it was knocked over by Raenef)

Me: Then what are we waiting for? Let's get busy! Huh? Where'd you go? (Looks beneath his feet) Oops…hehe, sorry. I own nothing!

Ugghh! How I loathe walking! True, we've only been walking for 10 minutes, but it feels like forever! I'm still sore from my earlier fight with the wasps, not to mention the scratch on my leg makes itself known every step of the way. And now I have to walk on this rocky path leading to the temple where a giant desian awaits to whup us. I feel overjoyed.

I've also learned something else. We all know that Lloyd's oblivious to most things, but it is so much more obvious here in this world, that I considered taking his swords and whacking some common sense into his head! But that just wouldn't be nice of me would it? Then again, maybe I should just leave him alone; he already has suffered enough head trauma from Raine alone probably.

We had been walking along the path in silence for a few good minutes, when Lloyd finally breaks the silence.

"Hey, Tren."

Oh, boy, here we go. What could Lloyd of all people possibly want with little innocent me?

"Hmm?"

"Where do you come from?"

I pause for a second to think. Does he mean who are my parents or where I come from? Knowing Lloyd, it's probably the latter, but I decided to mess with his head. I had suffered enough today, and now it's somebody else's turn. Unfortunately for Lloyd, he was my target.

"Well, Lloyd, when a man likes a woman a lot, they---"

Lloyd's eyes widened for a second before he started waving his hands, like he was trying to brush away what I just said. What? I couldn't resist trying it. Admit it, it was funny.

"No, no! I mean, where do you live? I haven't seen you around here before." Said Lloyd, who was now walking beside me and letting Colette take the lead.

"Ohhh! So that's what you meant!" I say, knowing full well what he originally meant. Messing with the supposed-to-be eternal swordsman is so much fun, it can be distracting. "You know about Luin, don't you?"

I receive no response, which leads me to wonder just what Raine taught at school. Surely they know something of the world outside of Iselia. But then again, this is Lloyd I'm talking to, the one who scored a 25 on the Palmacosta test.

"You know, the city of Hope?" Maybe it will ring a dusty old bell inside his head.

Lloyd just sits there staring and shakes his head no. I resist the urge to shout "IDIOT!" and to whack him upside the head, but I cannot help my eye starting to twitch.

"Lloyd," I say through gritted teeth, "Didn't you learn geography at school?" Surely there is something in this kid's head. I mean, he's supposed to be the eternal swordsman, for Christ's sake!

Sadly, I am only answered with a blank stare and two words: "Um…No?"

Must…resist…urges to…whack …main character…

"Never mind. Where do you guys live?" I ask. If they don't even know where I supposedly live, then I feel no need to explain myself anymore.

Lloyd grins and says "Genis and Colette live in Iselia, while I live in the forest outside of town with my dad."

I nod, processing the information I already knew. After playing the game three times through, you pretty much know everyone's background. I then move my questioning on to Colette. "So, what's it like being the chosen?"

Colette seems to think for a moment before answering. "It's pretty much normal, just with everyone being respectful to me and listening to me."

"I see. So nothing unusual or different?" I question her. I had always thought Colette had more of an exciting life than that before the game started, like she got to visit different cities or meet different people. Hearing this makes me suspect that being the chosen of Sylvarant isn't all it's cracked up to be.

"Nope, just normal." She replies.

I then finally turn to our midget mage to see if he could enlighten me a little bit about his life more than the others had. (A/N: Ha-ha, midget mage!)

"So Genis, how does the sorcerer's life suit you?"

"Huh?" he looks at me with a strange expression, as if he'd just been whacked upside the head by Raine and become dumbfounded. "I'm not a sorcerer! Not yet, at least."

"I know, I know," I say while casually waving my hand like I'm swatting a fly away. Take a compliment, would you? "What I mean is, what's your life like? Do you have a big family or do you live in a nice home or what?" You know its fun to ask questions even though you already know the answer. Sorta makes you feel like God or something.

"Well. I live in a pretty decent home. It's not as big as Colette's, but it's still pretty good. As for family, I live with my sister, Raine." Suddenly, a look of fear crosses Genis' face and he looks toward Lloyd. "Lloyd, what if Raine sees us out here? She'll get mad at us for leaving the school!"

Lloyd seems to mirror Genis' expression for a moment before returning to his happy-go-lucky attitude. "Don't worry; we'll just have to get back to the school before the Professor does."

I glance between the two for a moment, while in my head laughing it off, knowing that they won't make it back it time. However, I guess I feel a little sympathy towards Genis. He does look like the type who has had this happen to him before and was punished for it. Maybe I can be noble and sacrifice myself to save them both. Well, at least maybe Genis.

I look at Genis for a moment before questioning, "Your sister is also your teacher?"

"Yes," replies Genis, who could be seen shaking slightly as he spoke. I'd comfort the guy, but I'm still kind of new to them, so I'll keep my distance. "And if she finds us out here…well…let's just say we'll be punished painfully."

Then again, maybe I won't be so noble. I can't help it if I want to avoid pain, now can I?

"Oh well, what will happen, will happen." I say, though I am slightly worried what will happen if I'm caught with them. Wait a minute, someone said that line, who was it? Zelos, wasn't it? He always got hit a lot…man, I'm screwed. I put it off for later and refocus on the path. We seem to be making some progress, seeing as how the path is less bumpy and smoother.

It makes no difference to my leg scratch though. It just won't stop THROBBING! I stop for a minute to look at it. Great, it's still bleeding a little bit, and there's dirt on it. It'll probably give me an infection if I don't fix it. I swear, if I get messed up before this game even gets moving, I will kill Trill! Not Bill, but Trill! I guess I could ask for an apple gel, though. I don't want to wind up fighting with a messed up leg. I'll probably be in worse shape after fighting Vidarr if I'm not careful.

I turn to look at my comrades to see who I should ask for help. Hmm, not too good of a choice. We have a swordsman who doesn't know geography, a 12-year old magician who has yet to hit puberty by the looks of it, and a blond klutz who's supposed to save the world by sacrificing herself. Wonderful, just wonderful. I guess I'll ask Colette, she seems to be the best choice, and no, it's not because she's a girl!

"Hey, Colette. Can I ask you a favor?" I ask, stopping to lean on a rock to ease my leg up.

"Hmm? What is it?" Colette says as she wanders over to me. I'm about to ask for an apple gel, but, as luck would have it, Colette's klutz powers decided to conveniently turn on, causing her to trip forward.

Now, everything stops. You can imagine it as like someone pausing a slideshow to point out something. I can either be a gentleman and catch her, or I can be evil and let her fall. I guess I can be a gentleman for once in my life and catch her.

I shift forward and catch her before she hits the ground. Sadly, the extra weight almost causes my leg to buckle, so I quickly help her up and lean back on the rock.

"Oh! I'm sorry!" Colette yelps in her usual Klutz fashion.

"No problem, it's nothing to worry about." I say, while subconsciously reaching for my leg.

"So what did you need from me?" Colette asks.

"Well, earlier, before I ran into you guys, I got in trouble with some wasps, and one of them left a scratch on me. Do you guys have any apple gels I can use?"

"Yeah, we got some! Wait here just a sec, okay?" Colette chirps, and turns to talk to Lloyd and Genis, who had watched the whole thing from a distance. I sigh internally; glad to finally be promised some relief. Look, just because it only seems like a scratch to you, doesn't mean that it doesn't hurt, so don't call me wimpy!

Colette returns with a small bottle in her hands and gives it to me. When I pop off the top, I'm greeted with the smell of apple cider. Guess that's why they're called apple gels, eh? I look inside and see a punch red liquid inside. Further proof of apples being used for this. I slosh it around a few times and hear a sloshing, yet strangely sticky sound.

"Uh, thanks, but, how do I use this?" I ask. When they use it in the game, all they do is hold their hand up and it activates. Now that it's real, what do I do, drench myself with it or something along those lines?

"You can either drink it or apply it where it's needed. I guess just rub it where your scratch is." She answered.

"Okay, thanks. And sorry to bother you about it." I say, applying the gel. As I put it on my leg, I get a cool feeling and my leg starts to stop throbbing.

"Oh, no problem! Just ask if you need anything else!" Colette chirps, seeming to skip back down the path with our two other friends.

Is it just me, or is Colette just…too happy? I don't know. She always seems to be positive about things that don't make sense. She could like, go to a destroyed city and leave later, still looking all happy and joyful. But then she becomes all robot-like and stuff when she loses her soul, so I guess it isn't all the time.

I probably would have continued to space out about Colette if I hadn't bumped into Lloyd and fell on my butt. Jeez, swordsmen can be so rude sometimes. I move my focus from my sore behind to Lloyd, who was about to receive a scolding from my fists for stopping for no reason when I notice the others had stopped too. I get up and walk around the group to see what's up.

Bloody Hell. That's all I can say or think. Bloody Hell.

You know how small the temple looked on the game? You walked a few steps and you were at the top, hmm? Completely different here. We are talking major change going on. The steps were the same, just a couple flights longer, like one or two. The big change I'm talking about is the temple.

It stands there at the top of the hill looking like a three-story building. There are a couple of statues of angels around the top of the stairs near the temple. At the top of the temple, you can see the special oracle light show beaming out of the roof, so maybe it isn't as big as I thought it was. To the side, I can see a smaller building. Sitting next to the temple makes it look like a storage shed or something, I don't know. It's probably got cleaning materials in it.

'Good lord, Trill. When you said there may be some changes, I didn't think you would go this far.

_Hey, that's how it is, deal with it. Oh, by the way, remember those small problems I was working on?_

'Aren't those the problems you said I shouldn't worry about?'

_Yes, but one problem got a little out of hand._

'What do you mean?'

_Let's just say that Vidarr will be a little…different than you remember him._

I sigh as he closes the mental link and resumes what I think is typing by the sound of clicking I can hear. Oh, well, as long as Vidarr isn't like, equipped with an arm cannon and is twice as big as he was in the game, I'll be fine.

"Hey, Tren. You all right?"

I looked down towards our group to see Lloyd looking at me while Genis and Colette had started up the steps. Aww, Lloyd seems to be ever so slightly concerned about me. What a Pal! Dammit, stop it!

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine. It's just; I haven't seen such a big temple like that before." I reply.

"Hmm, yeah, it's pretty big alright. Takes a little while to climb, though." Lloyd speaks as he looks up the stairs, like he was preparing himself to climb the stairs. Then again, there are a lot of stairs, so maybe he has the right idea. And lo, we began to climb the perilous stairs to face our fate. Geez, that sounded more cliché than it did.

Two flights later, I was already getting bored with climbing these stairs. I was about five feet behind Lloyd. There's nobody around here, and there isn't any sounds of fighting as far as I can tell, which makes me think something's wrong. Wasn't there supposed to be a bunch of priests here fighting off desians or something along those lines? And wasn't there supposed to be a priest who's supposed to fall down the steps and die? I notice we're coming up on a clearing of sorts. Yes, we can stop walking for a minute! Maybe I can ask Trill what happened to the priest.

THUMP!

I look up as I hear that sound, followed by an "Oh, no!" cry from Genis and a "Pastor!" yell from Colette. Guess we found our dead guy. Better late than never, I guess. I walk up towards the group and just stop. I mean a dead stop, like I was frozen. Back when I played the game, the priest didn't show any signs of wounds, just holding his hand at his side and collapsing. This…was different, very different.

The guy's face was scratched up somewhat with what I think is dried blood on it. His torso was scratched up with a big wound that was causing him to lose a lot of blood on his side. Now I guess we know why he had collapsed while holding his side.

"Urgg…chosen one…" the pastor spoke. I'm surprised he can still talk after all the blood he's lost. He should be dead by now. I guess elderly priests shouldn't be underestimated.

"You shouldn't talk, sir. Save your strength!" I cry. I can't help it, it's not easy seeing someone dieing right in front of you like this.

Let's get one thing straight right here and now. I'm not exactly the tough guy I make everyone think I am. To be honest, I can't stand the thought of death. It just disturbs me to no end. One time, I had an elderly relative of mine, my grandmother. She was one of the best people I knew. She was never cruel, never mean, the nicest honest-to-god Christian you could ever meet. She died when I was about seven or eight, I can't remember, and I couldn't stand it. It was because of that, that I never could quite handle death, so it's pretty hard to deal with this right now.

"It's alright; I know I'm not meant to live much longer. COUGH-HACK!" He spluttered. A little blood splashed out of his mouth. I shudder as he struggles to speak, silently pleading to let him live.

"My only…regret…is not being able…to defend…the…cho…sen." He then stopped moving and closed his eyes. He almost seemed to deflate. I look away as my eyes start to feel watery. Dammit, don't cry! I have to be strong. I'll be dealing with this a lot more on the journey, so I have to get used to it.

I wipe my eyes and look back to see the others sitting there with grim expressions on their face, and Colette and Genis crying. I guess they share the same feelings too. Lloyd stands up and says "I guess we should…go on ahead." He doesn't look too good himself now. Colette and Genis have stopped crying and seem to be ready to go. We proceed to start climbing up the stairs again when I stop for a moment. I can't help but feel there's something I should say, so I might as well say it now.

"Hey, guys? If you don't mind, can you wait a sec? There's something I want to do." I ask. The others turn to look at me, then the priest, and silently nod their heads. I turn back around and walk back in front of the pastor. He seems to be at peace, at the very least. I get on my knees and pray a silent prayer in my head. It's kinda funny since I'm not exactly the most religious person you can meet, but it seems necessary.

Dear Lord God Almighty, I know that you can hear me, even in this world. Please see to it that this man's soul is properly guided into heaven and let him be at peace knowing we acknowledge him and his life. Thank you, amen.

I know it seems silly for me to be praying over someone who's not even supposed to exist, but I was raised as a Christian, so I'll do what I feel is right.

I then get back on my feet to notice Colette standing near me. That's funny; I didn't even hear approach me. She looks into my eyes for a moment before whispering "Thank You." I nod, acknowledging what she said and whisper back "You're welcome." I guess she appreciates people who do things like that, even if it seems unnecessary. We then return back to the stairs to return back to the group.

"Are you alright now?" Lloyd asks. I can see Genis out of the corner of my eye, looking at us as we return.

"Yeah, we're fine now. Let's go on ahead to the temple." I say, ready to put this behind me. True, it seems cold, but after saying that prayer, I felt that there was no more that needed to be said on the matter, so I started to climb up the stairs, what could possibly await us up top.

When we start to reach the top of the final flight of stairs. I start to hear two voices conversing, one elderly and one young. When we finally stop, I see who it is. There are what I count to be three soldiers standing there; creating a wall between us and who I assume is talking. There's another guy with the desians who sticks out like a sore thumb. He seems to be dressed in a sort of robe-like clothing, so I guess that would be Botta, giving his famous line of asking where the chosen is. This means that the guys here aren't desians, they are Renegades. Which reminds me, how the hell did Botta get convinced to where a robe when it's obviously a Women's article of clothing? As such, I have a new nickname for him. Drum Roll, please!

"Where is the Chosen?" Asked…Robe-man! (HAHAHA! I couldn't resist it.)

I get a better glimpse of the other person standing in the conversation. Its Colette's grandmother, the secret-giver Phaidra! If you're wondering why I called her secret-giver, it's because she decided to be Lloyd for a moment here in the game and tell Botta where the chosen is.

Phaidra looks out past Robe-man and spots us. As she opens her mouth to speak again, if you could see into my mind, you would see me running in slow-motion, yelling "NOOOOOO!" But, I can't do that here, seeing as how I'm incapable of doing that, so I'll settle for a blank look.

"Run, Colette!" She yells. You stupid idiot! We could have sneaked away, but noo, you had to tell them where we are. One of the Soldiers turns in our direction and informs Robe-man that, yes, we are behind them, and no, the old lady wasn't trying to slip by with the oldest trick in the book. He then turns to face us.

"Chosen one, your life is mine!" Yells Robe-man. Lloyd, acting as the leader of the group, springs forward and draws one of his swords to defend Colette. Taking the incentive, Genis and I move to her side, ready to defend her as well. The Renegades start to fan out to try and surround us and end up in a triangle position.

"I won't let you desians get away with anything or hurt Colette!" Lloyd said, drawing his other sword as he spoke and taking his fighting stance.

One of the desians, catching what he said, started laughing at us. "Desians? Haha, alright then, die at the hands of the desians you hate so much!" He and the other footmen drew their weapons, simply swords, and proceeded to charge at us. I still had my gauntlets on my hands, so I took my stance and prepared to fight my enemy.

I figured this fight to be simple enough, considering that the only ways that these idiots attack pretty much comprised of thrusting and slashing upwards. To prove my point, my opponent merely ran up and tried to thrust his blade into my stomach. I dodge to my left and give him a right hook on his chin, which seemed to daze him. Look at me; it's Rocky, ToS style! I then followed up with a left fist at his chest, which made him take a few steps back. Unfortunately, he took one step too far, which caused him to start to fall down the staircase. He tried to flail his arms forward so he would stay balanced but to no avail. He fell back and started rolling down the staircase. I have to admit, I felt a little sorry for the guy for his rotten luck and all, but he was trying to run me through, so I can't feel guilty about it. Let's check on my friends, shall we?

Lloyd seemed to be doing fine in his fight, seeing as how his opponent had already lost his weapon and couldn't defend himself against two pieces of wood to save his life. One good blow to the neck by Lloyd, and he was out like a light. I looked at Colette and Genis, who decided to work together to handle the last one. They had finished off their guy, after Genis had used what I assume is stone blast on him, seeing as how he was covered in rocks.

Lloyd walked over to me and brushed off his hands after putting up his swords, saying "That was too easy. Those guys were pushovers." I looked back and said "Yeah, but something doesn't feel right." Knowing that a giant renegade was supposed to come out and fight us was not very encouraging.

Lloyd looked at me with a questioning look and asked "What do you mean, 'Something doesn't feel right'?"

I was about to respond when I heard a mild boom behind me. It wasn't too loud, but it was loud enough to tell that it was something big, and was unfortunately heading this way, which you could tell by the sound growing louder as it approached our direction.

Lloyd finally heard it and redrew his weapons out, ready to face whatever came out. I wished him luck, seeing as how we're supposed to get whooped by Vidarr and have Kratos save us. Colette and Genis appear next to us, also ready to take on the next enemy. I just hope I don't get killed. But with each boom that increased in sound, I felt my confidence slowly turn into fear. Finally, something appeared out of the temple. I readied myself for the fight when I noticed that instead of a man who was only a little bit taller than us come out to fight; it was a man who was quite taller than us. Little Davids versus a giant Goliath anyone?

When he came out, he was carrying his usual spiked ball with chains in one hand and a giant sword in the other. On his back, I could make out a hammer and some other weapon I couldn't make sense of. He was built like a giant muscle man, you know, the one's you see on T.V that flexes too much and looks like his arm will explode if it gets any bigger. He's got a helmet on with horns, which I guess is supposed to be intimidating, but I think he just wants to hide his face. He raises his spike ball and starts swinging it around, yelling at us "Do not get in our way!"

He then proceeded to throw the ball at us, aiming for Lloyd and me. We all jump to the side, just barely dodging the assault. Me and Genis on one side, and Colette and Lloyd on the other. Genis started to cast fireball, so I decided to try and draw Vidarr's attention to me. Of course in doing so, I end up realizing that I have no way to distract him unless I choose to attack him by myself, and being only armed with gauntlets and one move, I don't really have a plan.

'Trill, if you have anything that can help, now is a good time!'

_Alright, alright. I had been saving this for a little later, but I guess I can give it to you now. It's called earth shaker. Just aim for the ground near him and let it do its work. It should help you get through this guy until Kratos gets here. _

'I hope he gets here soon, because as much as I hate to say it, we may need his help with this.' I then stop thinking and keep moving as Vidarr decides to try and cut me in two with his sword. Man, today just isn't my day. I've had wasps chasing after me, wolves, humans or half-elves, and now, a giant Renegade muscleman who is trying to kill us. I feel so loved.

As I move to avoid becoming mincemeat, I survey the group. Genis seems to be casting every spell he knows, but they're not having much effect except ticking him off. Colette seems to be trying to aim for Vidarr's head, but only missing and ouch! She just got nailed by a shockwave made by Vidarr and his hammer and was sent flying. Lloyd, after seeing Colette get hurt, tries to take his rage out on Vidarr, but just merely succeeding in scratching him a little. I swear, if I get enough money, I will buy Lloyd the Knight sabers if it will help him fight!

I look back at Vidarr, trying to figure out a weak point on him to focus on, but he seems to have none, due to his bulky body. I then look at his legs and notice they aren't as strong as the rest of his body. In fact, they seem a little flabby to be honest. I dive to avoid the sword again and roll over next to Lloyd, who was panting hard and was on his knees. Guess the guy hasn't had as much exercise as it seems he does.

"Lloyd, I have an idea! I think I figured out a weak spot on Vid-I mean this guy!" I babble while breathing hard. Whoa, got to be careful about future information. Also, get more exercise. Got to remember those two.

"Really? Where is it?" He asks. Hmm, I wonder if Lloyd likes to make things shed blood? Judging by the crazy look in his eye, I could be right.

"It's his legs! They're not as muscular or protected as the rest of his body! We might do some damage there!" I reply. Come on, Lloyd! Go berserk on him! Ignore all the possible risks that you usually ignore anyway!

"Alright, I'll try! You distract him, and I'll go in for damage." Lloyd says, finally getting on his feet, only to have his eyes open in shock. "LOOK OUT!" He yelled as he barreled away. I look up and get a full view of Vidarr about to cut me to pieces. I leap up and try to move, but as he misses me and slams it to the ground, it makes a shockwave, sending me flying away a few feet. Owie! My legs hurt!

I get back up and notice that Vidarr has pulled out a new weapon to replace the sword. Unfortunately, it was a giant axe. Let's take a moment to think. Who's pretty much the only character who wields an axe? Presea, not Vidarr, Presea. Presea, though she was strong enough to wield an axe, was slow when wielding it. Seeing as how Vidarr is a giant muscleman, you can surely figure out that this means trouble for us. He brings it up and tries to hit me again, but misses seeing as how I got the bloody hell out of there!

I decide to try my new technique, seeing as how Lloyd is positioned in the right spot to try our plan. I can also see that he has told Genis and Colette the plan, seeing as how they are in the same position as Lloyd and ready to go when ready.

I look for a blind spot on Vidarr as he resumes going axe-crazy on me. When one of the swings goes wide, I leap in; aiming at the ground by Vidarr's feet, I yell "Earth Shaker!" When it made contact with the ground, it seemed to rise up like a stalagmite attack, only smaller and more focused. Unfortunately, for Vidarr that is, since I was positioned under him, the rocks shot up and hit him right in the crown jewels. He immediately dropped his ball with chain, which was probably neglected throughout this fight, and let out a loud groan while reaching to cover his sensitive spot. I moved out of the way and almost blew up with laughter, but decided to save it for later.

I looked to the rest of the group and yelled "NOW!" They each ran up and took their turns. Lloyd was first, plunging a sonic thrust into his leg. Then Colette followed up with a Ray thrust which made the wound deeper. Finally, Genis ended it with a fireball, which burned his leg up pretty much to a crisp. He finally collapsed with a loud yell of pain and didn't move, after landing facedown on the ground with blood coming out of his burned up leg.

I, myself, collapsed onto the ground onto my butt and just bawled out laughing my head off. Of all the moves that I was expecting, I certainly didn't see that one coming! And judging by how the others were laughing, I'd say I was right!

"That was the Gasp funniest thing I Gasp have ever seen!" Gasped Lloyd, who was red in the face.

"I can't believe that that actually worked!" Giggled Colette, who was also red in the face. It's probably the funniest to her, seeing as how she doesn't have to worry about pain like that.

Genis had his hands on his knees and was also laughing his head off. "Yeah, that was-" he stopped and his face was soon one of fear. "L-Look behind you!

Lloyd and Colette looked up and soon enough, they too had faces that showed they were scared. Oh, hell no is he getting up. I turn around and see not only has he gotten up, he had picked up his axe and was about to swing it at us. As he swung it, I couldn't move out of being frozen by fear. My life seemed to flash before my eyes for a second. Then suddenly, just as he was about to hit us he stopped, and a loud slash against skin was heard. He fell to the ground with his axe failing to reach us. I looked down to make sure he was dead by poking him with my foot. When he didn't stir, I knew it was over. I looked up and almost gasped as I saw who had saved our butts.

He had an entirely purple outfit, covering most of his body except his arms and hands, with his hands being covered by gloves. On one of the gloves was a green exsphere. On his head, he had a mop of brownish red hair with bangs covering his forehead and one of his eyes. On his back was a swallowtail cloak, and at his side he had a long steel sword. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, we have just been saved by the Legendary Seraphim, the magical swordsman, one of the only badasses in the entire game, the one and only, Kratos! (Insert applause here) If only Mithos was here, I'm sure he would have already been worshiping him. Well, at least I'm still alive, for now.

Author's notes:

Me: Yay! Kratos is here! Now we won't get our butts whooped as often!

Lloyd: What do you mean, as often? (Looks at Raenef with an evil eye)

Me: Did I say that? I meant uh, you know, hey! What am I worried about? I'm the author! I'm God here! (Turns to Lloyd) You cannot scare me Lloyd Irving! Now, face the ultimate doom: You must try to defeat…Barney! MUHAHAHAcoughcoughHAHA!

Read and Review, please!


	6. Temple of Doooom!

Me: Jeez, it's been a while since I've updated. Damn school and their projects. When the world ends and if I'm in heaven, and I get control of some world destroying power, school systems are the first to go in the new world, so I can work on my stories more. And now, on to the sto… where's Lloyd?

(Looks behind to see Lloyd squaring off with Barney from chapter 5)

Lloyd: Can't anything stop this crazy beast?!

Barney: (Starts to sing his annoying song that I refuse to type here)

Me: Okay, I guess you've suffered enough. (Turns to face Barney with a flamethrower) Eat flames, Dino-boy!

(Barney catches on fire and dies as a melted pile of goop.)

Me: Now, on to the story. I own nothing!

You know, a person's first impression of Kratos would probably be cool. I mean, at first glance, you see a tall dude in purple with a sword on his side and an expression of "I don't care" on his face, and you'd think he'd be pretty tight guy, wouldn't you? Well, sorry to disappoint you, but you're about as wrong as me saying I control the world. We all know that's probably impossible, seeing as how it's Trill's job to do that. But you get my point, he's not that cool. In fact, he's downright evil at times!

After resheathing his blade, the mercenary/angel/seraphim walked over to Phaidra. Looks like he wants to go ahead and explain who he is. I wonder if Kratos is afraid of being mistaken for another desian. Or Renegade or whatever they are? I guess if you're some kind of secret agent for an organization that's trying to control the world and revive a dead person; you've got a lot to worry about.

And aside from that, has anyone else wondered how he got here so quick? Did he get here by Rheiard or teleportation or what? It's not like we couldn't have taken on Vidarr by ourselves, albeit I might I have lost a leg or something along those lines.

But I digress. He did save us, so I guess we owe him that much. But I still don't like him that much. Maybe it's the whole betrayal thing getting me like this, but I don't care. Judging by the looks on everyone else's face, only Lloyd agrees with me. Colette and Genis are too impressed by Mr.Badass to disagree, while I guess Lloyd is mad since Kratos came in and saved the day and all. Guess Lloyd has a slight save-the-day quirk.

Genis leaps his little excitement leap and exclaims "Wow, he's so strong!" Colette follows up with a dramatic saying of "Uh-huh!" Would we expect anything less from the clumsy chosen?

Lloyd merely turns around and mutters "Ye-yeah, I guess he's alright." I, on the other hand in contrast to the group, say "Tchh, he's just a showoff is what he is. We could have taken down that creep if we wanted to."

Kratos, using his little fancy angel senses, must have heard what I said, because he turned to look at us or more specifically, little old me. I folded my arms across my chest and stared right back, focusing all my will not to blink. We stare down each other like two anime characters staring at each other, sparks and all.

It lasts for a few seconds when he finally breaks off to look back at Phaidra. Yay, I beat Kratos at a staring contest! Score: me 1, Kratos 0.

Everyone starts to walk over to the two adults, so I snap out of my little victory in my head and walk over as well. You know, comparing myself to Kratos from this close, he looks a little less tough than before. Of course, he can still whup my butt good if we ever got into a fight, but I can tell how almost every other bad guy we came across in the game, at least the ones with lines, thought he wasn't so tough. Looking at him now, he sort of looks thin, but not like someone who's anorexic or anything like that. Hmm, I wonder if anorexia even exists here. Like, are there new diseases, or are the same diseases from Earth here instead? Oh well, not like it matters. If I or someone else I know get's struck by a disease, then maybe I'll worry.

Kratos turns to us again, putting on a face of nothingness. In other words, he's going to make it look like he cares even though he doesn't. I wonder how Anna became in love with him. Maybe he tricked her? Nah, he wouldn't go that low. So that leaves threatening or seduction. I don't think he would have threatened her, sooo…never mind, I'm just going to drop it so I can get my mind out of the gutter.

"Is everyone alright? You don't seem to be injured." He asked while holding his sword like he always does. Do we have an insecurity problem, Kratos? It's not like we know all about you, Yggdrasill, and Tethealla. At least, not yet. At the same time, his exsphere gleamed, so everyone's attention was slightly drawn to it. Yesss, stare into the shiny thing! Obey the shiny thing!

"Is that an Exsphere?" Lloyd whispers beside me. No, Lloyd, it's a shiny rock Kratos picked up to make himself look fancy. Now I can fully comprehend why Lloyd is considered dumb.

"Thank you for assisting us. I don't know what we would have done if the chosen had been hurt." speaks Phaidra. And what, we just stood to the side and did nothing? Furthermore, who was the one who told Botta where we are and put us in danger? You did, not us.

Kratos looks a little surprised at this. Apparently, he's just figured out that Colette is the chosen and doesn't believe it. I'd call him slow, but I can't say I particularly blame him. When I first played the game I didn't believe it either because it seemed impossible.

"I see. So this girl is the next chosen?" Kratos stated while turning to face us again. Yep, he definitely doesn't believe it. A blonde Klutz is supposed to be the chosen to supposedly save the world, yet is used for trying to revive a dead girl? Get real.

"Yep. That's me!" Colette chirped. Yet again, I'm reminded of her being too happy. I'd hate to see her get sugar-high. "Grandma, I'm gonna undergo the trial now." She stated and walked toward the entrance.

"Trial? What trial are you talking about?" asked Lloyd. Apparently, information about the chosen must be hard to get, even if you are one of the chosen's closest friends.

I decided to add my two cents worth to the conversation so I don't look like a mute. "Does it have something to do with the temple? What, does she have to fight monsters or something?"

Kratos looks at me to answer our questions. Apparently, I took the words right out of his mouth. Gee, I wonder how I did that. "Yes, the chosen must defeat the monsters and proceed to the top. From there, she'll receive judgment from heaven." He spoke, sounding as if he's rehearsed this. Heck, he's probably done this what, 4000 times already?

Lloyd stepped forward after hearing this. He probably just wants to look heroic or something, it's a guy thing. We always feel the need to make ourselves look big and important at times, so I guess its Lloyd's moment. "Wait a minute. She can't go in their alone. I'm going in with her; she's my friend after all." What a heroic speech. Someone give him a medal.

Phaidra turned to look at Lloyd, wearing the same expression as Kratos a few moments ago. Guess she values intelligence a little more than strength these days. "Lloyd? I would be uncomfortable with just you."

And once again, Kratos does the impossible: he shows some emotion on his face. Guess finding your missing son to pop up and being a friend of the new body for Martel is somewhat oddly convenient to him. "Your name is Lloyd?" he asks, probably wishing he was wrong, that his son was somebody else, not this dumb idiot. Now don't get me wrong, I like Lloyd, but his stupidity can override emotions very easily.

Lloyd turns to Kratos like he's the police, you know, one of those detectives you see on T.V that's trying to solve a crime and… never mind, I'll shut up now. "Yeah, but who are you to ask for my name?" Ohhh, the foolish fool. If only he knew that he was talking to his biological father, maybe he would have showed a little more respect. But of course, he can't know that yet, or else it will screw up the plot.

Kratos stares for a moment, probably wondering what in hell pushed him to develop such a crappy retort, and turns away, replying "I am Kratos, a mercenary. If you are willing to pay me, I will take on the job of guarding the chosen."

Which brings up another thought; where is this money that Kratos get's paid with anyway? When you go through the Journey, you get money by selling stuff or simply fighting monsters. Not once did I see my money mysteriously increase to a good amount. Maybe Phaidra doesn't pay him after all.

"I see that as of now I have no choice. Please be of service." She says. I still doubt she's going to pay him, which means we're going to be broke. Well, that's just great. Thanks Phaidra, now we're going to be forced to fight with only the weapons we have now, let alone being able to buy items.

"Very well then, shall we proceed?" Kratos speaks. He must want to get this over with and call it a day. I don't blame him, I got warped here by a mysterious force that wants me to show just how well I can handle myself, so I can relate to having a stressful day today.

Lloyd suddenly runs up with a look on his face that screams puppy-dog eyes. Maybe that's how he convinced Genis to come out here in the first place. "Wait, I want to go too!" he says. Yep, I can just imagine him with dog-ears on his head and a wagging tail on his back. Must…resist...urge...to pet Lloyd.

Kratos turns when he here's this. Looks like he wants to try the role of Father to his lost son. This should be good, where's the popcorn and camera when you need it? Maybe a theater seat so I can be comforted? Okay, okay, I'll stop.

"Lloyd, go home. You'll only get in the way." He states with a featureless face. Looks like he's going for the "My way or the Highway" attitude with him. Not a smart move when dealing with a 17 year old that seems to have only learned about art and P.E in school.

"What? No way! I'm going too!" Lloyd replies. He takes a step forward as if to challenge his choice. Of course, it isn't very challenging when you are shorter than your opponent. It just makes you look like you're trying to say "I can be just as tall as you!" without it actually working.

Kratros' face kind of grimaces and he starts to yell at Lloyd. "Did I not make myself clear? You should go home!" What a wonderful father-son relationship. Just met five minutes ago and they've already started arguing. They grow up so fast and…I'll stop now and try to ignore your weird stares.

"Um, Mr. Kratos, sir? Is it okay if Lloyd comes with us?" Colette whimpered behind us. Apparently, she was frightened by his shouting and was a little scared. But of course, who wouldn't be scared if you were yelled at by a purple spandex wearing swordsman?

Kratos turns away from Lloyd and faces her. "But…" Kratos said, ready to argue again.

Colette steps up next to Lloyd and looks toward Kratos. "I want him to come along. With him around, I'll feel a little safer." She then turned to face Genis and me. "You two can come along as well, if you want to." She said with a smile.

I feel myself look slightly surprised at this. I thought I would have to assert myself to get in, or maybe even sneak in. But here instead miss angel decided to go ahead and offer us to come along. Guess she must be slightly more scared of Kratos than I thought.

"Alright, sounds good to me. The more the merrier, right Genis?" I said, looking at Genis. It seems stupid to ask seeing as how he's gonna go in anyway, but I guess I'm trying to push for the good friend thing by bringing him along for the ride. He looks up to me and says "Sure! I've never been inside the temple before."

I smile at Genis and start to walk forward towards the entrance. "Then it's settled," I say with a smirk, "we're all going inside the temple with Colette." Then I look to Kratos and see a priceless expression: defeat, mixed with a little anger. "That shouldn't be a problem now should it, Kratos?" Man, I love that expression! It just screams to be laughed at or at least photographed. Where's a cell phone when you need it?

Kratos sighed and just walked along with us. "Do as you wish." Guess he doesn't take defeat well. Hey, let's see you teach the supposed hero of the Kharlan War how to fight, lose to him, and then become his servant, and let's see how you feel about defeat!

When we walked into the temple, it wasn't as bright as it was outside, kinda like a room with dimmed windows. The walls seemed to reach up for a while before reaching the roof. Heh, hate to be the constructer who has to fix the roof. There is three stairs in front of us, one being blocked off by the gate you're supposed to open with the Sorcerer's ring, leaving us with two pathways to take. Then you look to your left and one can see that the paths been blocked off by rubble, leaving us with only one path: the path filled with bugs, jelly, and your occasional everyday zombie or ghost. I wonder how many of them there are.

Lloyd steps forward first, craning his neck to look around and whistles low and long. "Man, this place is huge! I had no idea the temple was this big inside!"

Genis steps up next, also craning his neck. Of course, he's shorter, so he probably has to anyway. "Yeah, it's big alright. But I can't help but feel something strange in here, like something shouldn't be here." He said, sounding a little worried. Knowing him, he's probably more worried about his sister finding them out here.

Finally, Kratos walks in with Colette in tow behind him. He then takes his look around, but instead with only his eyes, and decides to give us a reason. "It's probably due to the monster's presence here. Their being here gives the temple an aura of evil instead of good." Sounds good enough to me. I could care less about the aura of the temple, as long as it's not entirely overrun with monsters. I'm not worried about losing, just being outnumbered 10 to 1.

I throw my arms up to stretch when I notice my gauntlets are still on my hands. Guess I forgot about them being on, since they feel like only gloves. I start to slip them off when I hear Kratos cough from behind me. And not the sick cough or the clear your throat cough, we're talking about the I-think-you-should-pay-attention-to-me cough. I look back and say "Yes?" What could he possibly want with me? I haven't even done anything yet except walk in the temple!

"Perhaps it would be best that you kept those on while we're in here, unless you want to be defenseless." He stated. Who does he think he is? He can't tell me what to do. Sure he could probably overpower me easily, but I don't care. But I guess he's got a point. Better to be ready to fight in a monster filled temple than be comfortable and ready to be eaten.

"All right, fine. I'll keep them on. Shall we get going, then?" I say, ready to get this over with. Sorry, but I don't exactly enjoy killing random creatures even if it's just to defend myself.

So we began our trip through the temple. Walking through the temple, one could see that it was worse for wear further in. The walls had grime on them and were cracked. The floor was dusty as well. Guess the pastors here are lazier than I thought they were.

"Excuse me. Might I ask you a question?" Oh, great. Mr. High and Mighty has a question for me. Hmm, to respond or to just ignore him, guess I'll listen in. Turning to my side where Kratos was, I respond with "Hmm?"

"I was wondering how you learned that technique back there. The one you used on that Desian." He asked. Wait, you can't be serious. Kratos, the Kratos Aurion, was asking me how I managed to hit a giant desian in the nuts. You're kidding me.

"What do you mean?" I ask. He can't possibly be asking me about that. Maybe he means the Shell Bullet? I hope so, because I'm drawing a blank on how to explain it myself. It's not like I can just blame it on Trill. Well I could, but it would freak everyone out and just screw everything up.

"The one you used to…uh…_harm_ that desian." He said with a shudder. I look back and see Lloyd and Genis slightly shudder as well at the memory. Guess I might have overdone it a bit with that technique. But hey, I was in danger of being squashed by a freaking huge person, what was I supposed to do? Run away?

"Oh, that technique. Well, let's just say that it's uhh…a secret technique. Yeah that's it; it's a secret technique that only I know." Please let them buy it, please let them buy it, _please_!! I look back again to Lloyd and Genis with blank looks on their faces. Guess they bought it or they're stumped. Now what about Kratos? I look back to him and see a look of disbelief on his face. Shit, he didn't buy it. Crap, think, think, what's a good explanation?

"But I guess if you really want me to explain it, I could. It's kinda complicated though, so if you don't want to bother, that's fine." I ramble. Please, whatever god or deity is listening, please don't make him ask again!

"I would like to know, so please, enlighten me as to how you did it." Kratos says, now focusing his attention on me with cold eyes. I gulp and scoot away a few inches to put a little distance from us. That way, if he attacks me, I can try to run.

"Well, I guess the best way I could put it is that I use the mana in my body, divert it into my gauntlet, and use the energy to manipulate the land around me to how I wish." I say in one breath. Wow, that actually made some sense, according to ToS logic at least. Judging by Kratos' new expression of understanding, I guess he accepts it as well. Yes, I'm off the hook! Go Me! Go Me! It's my birthday! Oh Yeah! YE…I'll stop now.

We finally came across some stairs leading down to what I guess is where the Sorcerer's ring is. What's odd is that we haven't run into any monsters yet. Where'd they go all of a sudden? We aren't going to get any experience this way…unless there's a bunch of them waiting for us downstairs. Crap it all.

Finally we reach the end of the stairs and wouldn't you know it, here they are. There are a couple of spiders scattered in one corner and some zombies in another. It doesn't look like they'll attack us as long as we steer clear of them. Then again, it's likely they'll attack us just for sheer fun and hunger. Oh, joy. As we walk out, they take notice of us and start to charge at us. No, charge isn't the right word. More like lumber/crawl towards us. Oh well, the peace was nice while it lasted. We each split off to face our own creatures, with me getting paired up with two spiders and a zombie. Yet once again, the fear of being outnumbered crosses through my mind. I'll have to finish these guys quickly if I'm going to beat them before getting overpowered.

I run forward and throw my fists at the zombie. Remembering my previous encounter with them, I aim for the head, slamming my fist into its face. Apparently, I overdid it because its head flew off and onto another spider that was uninvolved in the fight so far. It looks towards me and starts to move towards me. Shit, now I have three spiders to deal with. Guess this is going to be tougher than I thought. How do you kill spiders that are as big as you with only your fists, anyway?

One of the spiders leaps up and tries to grab my face. I dodge under him and he flies behind me. Another one tries to go for my upper torso. I end up catching him by two of his legs and get to see just what's under the spider. In this case, a mouth with clicking fangs inside it. Throwing it behind me like the first one, I hear the sound of two thumps, meaning that one just collided with another in mid-leap, which is a good thing, considering that one of the spiders was about to hit me on my back. The last one follows the same course as the first, aiming for my head. I block with my gauntlet to stop it from biting my head only to have it bite my gauntlet instead. I shake it around a bit before throwing it off into the pile of the two other spiders. This is getting ridiculous. That's when I notice that they're right by the edge of the platform, meaning one good blow and I'll be rid of them.

Running towards them, I decide to try using earth-shaker to see if it will get them all. Hopefully, it will knock them over the edge so I don't have to deal with them anymore. Leaping up to get some energy into the blow, I return to the ground with a cry of "Earth-shaker!" On contact with the ground, waves formed and pushed them over the edge. Looking over the edge to see what happened to them, I'm greeted with a floor of pitch-black, meaning they had indeed fallen to their doom. I get up and walk over to the rest of the group who had finished off their fights.

"Everyone all right, is anybody hurt?" I ask, surveying each for damage. Aside from having their clothes look a little dirtier, they appear to be fine.

"Everyone's all right, I think." Lloyd said, looking a little tired. Guess being a twin-swordsman is tougher than you think.

"Heh, those guys weren't so tough to beat at all." I say brimming with confidence. True, technically all I did was send them over the edge, but I was still their cause of death, so I'm enjoying my victory while I can.

Colette walks over to another edge of the platform and gives a slightly audible gasp. "Everyone, come look at this!" She exclaimed with glee. We all wandered over there to see what the big deal was. And lo, it was the Sorcerer's ring! It's just sitting there, floating, waiting to be taken and used to set people on fi-I mean to open the gate to the top of the temple. Yeah, that's what it's used for. To be honest, it looks kind of smaller than I expected it to be.

Lloyd leaned forward a little to get a better glimpse of the ring and said "I wonder how we can get down there?" No, Lloyd, we'll jump and fly over there and grab it.

We each continued to look at the ring as well as try to find a way down there when I noticed that Colette was missing. Hang on, missing? Colette? Didn't Colette go missing before, and that ended up with them fighting a…shit. I looked behind me to see where she had wandered off to, and guess what. She was wandering over to the giant golem we're supposed to fight. It was only sitting there to the side, asleep in dreamland. Shame it has to wake up and get beat up.

"Colette, get away from there! It's dangerous!" I yell, trying to stop her from causing more harm to us, but to no avail. I start to run over there as the golem starts to wake up. She turns to look back at me while turning her back to the awakening golem. She hears it behind her and turns back to see it raise its hand up to smack her like a bug. I start to run faster, hoping that I get there quick enough to save her. Just as the hand comes down to squish her into little Colette molecules, I dive forward and tackle her out of the way. Just as we roll away, I can feel the moving air that the hand caused as well as the vibrations from the impact.

We stop rolling and I help her up. "Are you alright? Are you hurt?" I ask, worried I might have squished her a bit under me. (Get your mind out of the gutter, you perv.)

She gets up and shakes the dirt off her. "No, I'm fine. That was a close one. You aren't hurt are you?" She asks, looking at me with a concerned expression.

I look myself up and down and reply "I'm just fine, Colette." At the sound of metal crashing against rock, I turn around to find the rest of our group fighting off the rock golem. I turn back to Colette and say "Let's get in on this fray, shall we?"

She nods, pulls out her chakrams, with me right behind her. As we run, I'm struck by a thought: How are we supposed to harm this thing? It's made out of solid stone, we can't cut through it.

_But we can give it a good beating, now can't we?_

I smile at Trill's input in this. 'Took you long enough. Where've you been?'

_Sorry, had to fix a few loose ends. Nice dive by the way, Colette appreciates it._

'Yeah well, someone had to do it, might as well be the stranger who cares about his friends. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to beat up a giant slab of rock.' And with that final thought we jumped into the fray.

It didn't take us long to beat the Golem to submission. After I got enough Shell Bullets in, his body started to crack, allowing Lloyd and Kratos to barrage it with demon fangs until it finally crumbled. We then found the stairs leading down to the ring, and proceeded onward to it.

Once we got to the ring, I noticed that it was actually a little bigger than I thought instead of it being smaller. Guess you can't really tell from being a few yards above it. I looked around for a moment to everyone and simply said "So, who get's to wield it?" I don't think I should get it, because I might accidentally set something on fire.

Lloyd walked up and grabbed the ring and put it on his hand. I guess he'll take it with him. Better him than me. If I got it, someone might have caught on fire. (CoughKratosCough)

"So you'll be taking it, then?" I ask, wondering what Lloyd exactly had in mind for it. Probably something like crafting or whatnot.

Lloyd looks at me and says "Yep, we might need it later, so I'll bring it with us. It looks cool anyway!"

Genis sighs behind me and says "You're such a kid Lloyd." Kratos agrees in the background with a simple "Indeed." Ooooh, big time burn! Dissed by both your best friend and your unknown father!

We finally walk out of the area and back to the main floor without incident, unless you call Lloyd nearly setting Kratos' cape on fire and being chased by him an incident. When we got back to the entrance, all of us got a glimpse of the big door blocking our way to the top. It sat there, glowing with a blue aura, as if to say "You can't get past this, so you might as well just turn around and go back." Sorry, giant door, I can't do that because I can't, so move out the way. Right, time to stop rambling and get back to the story.

Lloyd walked up to it and said "How do we get past this? There's no lever or switch or anything." You know, he's got a point. What if a pastor got stuck behind the door and couldn't get out? Wouldn't there be a secret door or something?

Colette walked up and stated "The Sorcerer's ring should open it. It's supposed to remove obstacles from one's path."

Lloyd, upon hearing this, stuck his hand with the ring on it out and pointed it at the door. A ball of flame shot out and hit the gate dead-center. It opened up like a rusty gate though. I was right; the pastors here really are lazy. They need to make time to clean up once in awhile.

Once we passed the gate, in front of us was what I guess was a transporter. It was kinda small, like Genis' size, so I'm slightly worried that I won't fit, as well as Kratos or Lloyd. But, I was proven wrong by Lloyd, who boldly stepped up and disappeared on the transporter. Everyone else went ahead leaving me behind. Meanies.

As I walked up on the transporter, I felt the sudden urge to say "Beam me up, Scotty." But I resisted it as the transporter started up and made my body start to disappear. It felt kind of tingly, like electricity flowing through you, but not enough to shock you. When it came up to my eyes, I was blinded by a white light, so I closed my eyes. When I opened them again, I was in the top room, with everyone else standing there. I noticed that there was a shining crystal in the center of a platform that everyone was standing around. As I walked closer, it didn't look like a crystal, but rather a necklace. I would have gotten closer if it wasn't for another blinding light appearing above us. Man, is someone trying to make me go blind or something? At this rate, I am going to be blind.

When the light subsided, appearing in front of us was the angel/evil half-elf Remiel, flapping white wings on his back. You know that's odd. All the half-elf angels all have white wings on their back, yet angels like Kratos and soon-to-be Colette had different styles of wings. I guess they must be special for some reason or other.

He floated down and spoke in a loud voice "I am Remiel. I am an angel sent from heaven to give judgment to Colette, the Chosen One." He looked down and saw her. "I presume you to be her?"

Colette's eyes got all shiny and she whimpered out a measly "Yes." Jeez, calm down, would you, it's not like he's going to get mad at you or kill you…yet.

He floated down a little more as the Crystal floated up to him. "Are you ready to accept the task set before you, Chosen One Colette?"

Colette closed her eyes and stated "I humbly accept this task."

"Very well, then. You may accept the crystal to be yours." Remiel proclaimed, as the crystal floated towards Colette. It stopped on her neck and seemed to attach itself to her skin. She opened her eyes and looked down and gave a small squeal of joy when she saw the crystal on her.

"Head South to the Seal of Fire, Colette. There, I will meet you again to bestow upon you the powers of Heaven." Remiel said as he disappeared from our view. Geez can't even say goodbye to the Chosen One, how rude of you, Remiel. Man, it's just one thing after another today. What could possibly be next?

Author's notes: Man, I'm glad this is done. Now I can get more readers again and hopefully more reviews. What do you think Lloyd?

(Switches camera over to Lloyd, who is laying in the fetal position on the floor.)

Lloyd: No more dinosaurs, no more dinosaurs, no more dinosaurs… (Starts to bite fingernails.)

Me: Oookayyy, you do that. And you, the reader, better leave a review unless you want to go through the same as he did!


	7. Nightmare of Twilight

Me: This is getting difficult. I'm trying to keep this interesting, but without parodying other people's stories. Let alone all the school work I have to do. Who knew being a freshman could be so hard? Ah, well. Who cares? It's not like my whole life is ruined if I screw up school right? On with the story!

Lloyd: Try not to make it so boring this time, I almost fell asleep.

Me: Purple dinosaurs.

Lloyd: (Freezes up, then walks over to a corner, sits down and starts to breathe deeply) There's no such thing as purple dinosaurs, WHEEZE, There's no such thing as purple dinosaurs, WHEEZE…

Me: Oookayyy… moving on…

Let's review all that's happened, shall we? Just in case some of you missed a few things. First, there's me, living my normal, stressful life as a teenager on Earth. Nothing unusual about that at all. Then, when I get home, I get sucked into my game and assume a role as a character. I am told that I'm being tested to see if I can beat the game if I was actually in it, with a gamecube as my guide and only source for anything relative to my life on Earth. I am now currently inside the Martel Temple where Colette just accepted the job as being chosen.

COULD I BE SCREWED OVER ANYMORE THAN I AM NOW!?

Okay, calm down Tren, it's not like your dead yet, you're still breathing, albeit as a fictional character in an even more fictional game. All is not lost. All you have to do is get through the game alive without changing anything dramatically unless necessary.

Yeah, I'm screwed over right now. There's no way I'm getting out of this alive, or at least sane.

Colette's got her Cruxis Crystal now around her neck and she's talking to Lloyd and Genis about what her job is now that she's been declared as the chosen. Kratos is just sitting to the side next to the portal, waiting for Colette to get done babbling so he can go leave, or get paid or whatever he does. Which leaves me leaning against the wall on the other side of the portal opposite of Kratos, with my eyes closed and thinking these thoughts, realizing just how screwed I am. I mean think about it, if I'm going to be in this game, you have to wonder what kind of effect I'm going to have in it.

"Hey, Tren, you okay?" Voiced a concerned Lloyd. I opened my eyes to see him and the others looking at me with equal concern on their eyes. Well, except for Kratos, who being the badass he is, decides to not care and look. Geez, it's not like I'm going to keel over and die Lloyd. Though that wouldn't be so bad if it would get me home.

I straighten myself off the wall and say "I'm fine, it's just I'm trying to think of what I'm going to do now." This is partially true, if you look at it from my view. I honestly don't know what to do now, since there is no home for me to go to since I don't exist here. There's no part in the story for me to follow except to go out and leave.

Colette seems to think about it for a moment and smiles, saying "I know! You can come with us back to my house if you want to!" Hmm, to go to a sugar-high nice girls house or sleep in a tree? Such a difficult decision. Guess I can go to the house; I'd like to at least enjoy something relatively similar to a home instead of the outdoors.

"Alright, sounds good to me. I'll go with you guys to your house." I say. Hey, the choice between a roof and no roof seems pretty simple to me. I look at Kratos and decide to force him into the conversation. Sorry, pal, if I have to suffer, you got to burn as well. "What about you? You gonna collect your pay and leave or do you have more business here?"

Kratos stares at me for a moment before answering. "I shall guide you back to the Chosen One's home, and then I shall see what I shall do, the same as you." Humph, copycat. You just don't want to be left in the dust while we go off and have an adventure.

Kratos turns to look at Colette and says "Shall we leave then? There's nothing left here to do." Now normally, I wouldn't care if he said something like this, but when he said it, he seemed to glance at me, giving me the suspicion that he wants to leave us behind already. Hmm, I wonder if he can read minds along with increased senses.

As Colette goes to the portal and vanishes, I suddenly remember something. Lloyd and Genis are supposed to stay behind and run into Raine. Shit, how do I distract them? I don't want to get them beat up on purpose, but I have to for the plot. Sorry Lloyd and Genis, but you have to take one for the team, or at least, me.

After Kratos vanishes through the portal, Lloyd proceeds to walk up next. Crap, don't these people wait for anything! I reach out and stop Lloyd before he takes a step into the portal. "Wait, I want to talk to you two for a second."

Lloyd steps back and looks at me and asks "Sure, what's up?" Genis is standing next to him, probably wondering what would make me wait until Kratos and Colette left to talk to them. "Yeah, how come you wanted to wait for them to leave?" Man, right on the bullet with him. No wonder he aced the Palmacosta Exam.

"Uhh…" I start, randomly searching through my head for an excuse to hold them back, when Kratos randomly appeared in my head. Ahh, the perfect scapegoat, the traveling mercenary. "I was wondering what you thought of that Kratos guy. Doesn't he seem kinda…suspicious to you two?" Oh, please let them buy this. If they do, I will...uh...put more money in my church's offering plates, yeah that's it.

Lloyd seems to get slightly angry for a moment, like someone just cursed him out. "I don't know," Lloyd started, clenching his fist as he spoke. "He seems alright, but I can't believe how strong he is. He doesn't even have any scratches on him while we're beat up."

Thinking about what Lloyd said, I look down at my clothes to realize he was right. Most of my clothing has dirt on it, with a few stains of blood here and there from the monsters and such, with a small ring of blood around my own leg from my scratch. Guess my body hasn't quite healed itself yet.

"I guess you're right there. He is good. What about you, Genis?" I say. Genis seems to think about it for a moment as if there's a right answer to this question and says,

"It doesn't really matter to me; I'm more concerned with getting out of here before my sister finds us in here."

I decide to mock a stranger for once and asked "Would it be so bad if she did find us? Not like she'll beat us up or anything, right?"

Genis replies simply by starting to shiver a bit and nodding his head, saying "You have no idea what she's like. Come on; let's just get out of here." He then walked to the portal and vanished. Guess the little guy really is scared of his sister. What I don't understand is how she can wield so much abuse and get away with it.

After Genis vanished, Lloyd walked through the portal, leaving me all by my lonesome. It is then that a thought occurs to me: What if Raine tries to beat me up along with Lloyd and Genis? Sure, it seems ridiculous at one point, but then again, when you're dealing with a ruin-crazed teacher who can easily beat up the main character, you can't feel safe.

Dismissing the thought and hoping for the best, I hop down the portal to the ground floor. When I reappear, I notice something awkward: Lloyd and Genis hiding behind a column looking out towards the center area. Sneaking up behind them, I decide to look for myself what the problem was to see the one and only walking bomb herself; AKA Raine. She was observing one of the walls close to the entrance, reaching out every few seconds to rub it as if to see its still there.

"Uh, guys? What are you doing?" I ask, simply hoping for a quiet reply or even a whispered SHHH. But no, when dealing with the would be eternal swordsman, you have to go for the loudest response: "AAHHH!" Lloyd then proceeds to trip and fall down the stairs, taking Genis with him. Seeing them fall to their possible doom almost makes me laugh, but I guess I can respect them for a little longer, so I just chuckle and walk down the steps.

After their little commotion on the steps, they unfortunately draw attention to themselves from Raine and her precious wall. She stares for a second at them to see who they are, or maybe deciding how hard to hit them for interrupting her precious ruin time. Lloyd and Genis then get up, only to look as if they want to be anywhere but here. "Heh, hello, professor." Lloyd says nervously.

I wonder why Lloyd doesn't just simply run away. If I was in this situation with one of my teachers, that's what I would have done, but I think Lloyd's too scared to even move. Raine walks away from the wall and stops in front of them. You know, being taller than your students really is a factor that most teachers don't implore, but Raine must be an exception, because she is using that factor to just add on to the fear scale.

"And just what are you two doing here? I thought I told you to stay in class?!" She said, as her world famous temper begins to build up, meaning that in a few seconds, there will be pain for someone.

"Ahh, sis, we didn't mean to, it's just that we uh…" Genis whimpered as he succumbed to his fear of his sister. Run, Genis! Save yourself! For once in your life, abandon Lloyd and leave him to his fate! But of course, my silent pleas are ignored as she swipes down on his head with a resonant SMACK! Genis then collapses to the ground in pain, holding his head, leaving Lloyd to defend himself alone against the Tyrannical teacher Raine. (Hey, that's a catchy title right there.)

"Please, professor, wait a minute-ARGH!" says Lloyd as he is kicked right into the very wall Raine was observing, and if I'm not mistaken, I just heard the sound of cracking over there, meaning one of two things: One, Lloyd's back just broke in two, or Two, he just damaged the wall even more than it was before, which could provoke Raine even more.

Looking at this situation as a bystander, I can't help but laugh a little after holding it back for so long. Seeing two characters get whooped so easily is just too funny! True, they just went through the trial of the temple, but it's still funny!

As I finally stop laughing, I slowly begin to realize something: I'm still standing by myself with a violent angry teacher who is still angry, who unfortunately appears to be looking at me now. Oh, shit. This isn't going to end well.

As she proceeds to stomp over to me in her rage mode, excuses race through my mind as I try to think of how to stop her from hitting me. Do I tell her she shouldn't hit me because I'm someone important? Or do I tell her she shouldn't hit me because I'm from Earth and don't belong here. Or I could just simply say "I'm not one of your students!"

Unfortunately, by the time I realize the last one, Raine has already cocked her hand back, ready to smack me into oblivion, so what came out instead was "I'm not one of-OUCH!" as I stumble back in pain. Man, those swipes do hurt! I shake it off and try again.

"Look, miss, I'm not one of-OUCH!" Another swipe to the head and I stumble back again. Damn, this woman hits hard! There's ringing in my head already! Can't anything stop her!?

I recover again to try, only to be sent back to the floor by one of her kicks. That does it; I have had enough from this crazy idiot! I don't know how you became a teacher, Raine, but enough's enough! Jumping up quickly, I catch her foot as she tries to kick me again.

"Look, would you just stop for a second and listen-GAHH!" I can only get out half of what I wanted to say due to her smacking me again, this time across the side of my head. Falling down to the ground, I roll over and say "What was that for, eh? What I'd do?"

She seems to stop for a moment to respond, saying "Never grab a woman by their foot or legs. It's rude to do that!" After hearing this, one has to wonder: Am I dealing with a woman, or is she channeling the spirit of some fist-fighter or something?

She then proceeds to try to hit me again when she stops to say the dumbest thing I've yet to hear in this world. "Hey, you're not one of my students, are you? Who are you?"

You have got to be kidding me! She does all this, including beating up Lloyd and Genis, only to finally realize that I'm not one of her students? That's the best you can do? How in the hell did you become a teacher? And why isn't there some kind of social service program here or something?

Sitting up, there are plenty of responses that run through my head, most of which wouldn't be appropriate for little children to hear. But of course, I have to be the gentleman, albeit the gentleman who just got beat up by a psychotic woman. Instead, I choose to say "No ma'am, I am not one of your students, just a traveler passing by the temple."

Raine seems to freeze for a moment before blushing bright red from embarrassment. Extending a hand to help me up she says "I'm so sorry! I must have gotten carried away!" Oh no, you didn't get carried away, you just went into a psychotic beat-down mode is all! Calm down, Tren, she can still beat you up, you know.

Getting up, I brush myself off and reply "Oh, it's all right. You were just doing you're duty as a teacher." Looking around, I notice Lloyd and Genis have vanished. Or so I thought, until I saw a white flap of clothing disappear behind another column. He really should get rid of those things, they are useless. I then say "It's all right you two, she's calmed down now. You can come out now." They then walk out slowly and guiltily, as if they just broke something. Well, that works for Lloyd at least, he broke the wall more.

"How'd you know where we were?" Lloyd asked, standing a good distance out of her smacking range. Hey, every person has their fears. For Lloyd, it's simply learning or getting smacked around by Raine.

"Simple, your little white tail-cloth stuck out behind you. You guys all right?" When you get rammed into a wall, you have a right to be concerned, after all. I don't even know how he's still alive after all this time. He's bound to have gotten hit worse than that in the past.

"Yeah, I'm all right. And sorry, Professor, we just wanted to come see the oracle with Colette. I just happened to drag Genis along. Isn't that right, Genis?" Lloyd stated, tilting his head behind him, where Genis had chosen to hide himself. Nodding his head, he too kept his distance from Raine.

"Yeah, that's right. Lloyd dragged me out here, Raine, to see the Oracle with Colette."

I guess this answers why Genis doesn't seem to be very brave all the time. If he wasn't smacked all the time, maybe he would be more courageous. Heck, maybe even taller.

Raine scrutinizes them for a moment before saying "All right. You can go home if you want, class is dismissed anyway."

Lloyd and Genis take these words to heart by thanking her and walking out. Man, these guys would look like cowards in the real world. I start to walk out when I turn around to apologize to Raine as well. I felt guilty for grabbing her, but when I looked back, she was gone. Oh, well. Too bad for her. I just hope I don't hear that crazy laughter.

"MWAHAHAHAHA!"

Okay, scratch that thought. From now on, I'm keeping my distance from her around ruins.

I run outside to catch up with Lloyd and Genis, who were waiting for me, and we proceed back to Iselia. As we walk along the road, I begin to think of what's gonna happen now. I'm gonna go back to Colette's house, watch Lloyd get pissed off at Kratos, and then I'm on my own. Crap, this sucks.

Something else I've wondered about is Trill. He's been awful quiet for ages now. I don't even hear computer clicking or anything. Maybe I should check on him.

'Hey, Trill. You there?'

_What's up? You actually sounded worried for a minute._

'Just wondering where you've been is all. You've been quiet ever since the fight with Vidarr.'

_Well, I've been busy lately. There's been a glitch in the computer I've been trying to fix._

'Glitch?' The last thing you want to hear from a super-powerful being is that there's a glitch in the world you're currently in. It usually leads to bad things, usually involving mass destruction and pain.

_It's nothing to concern you with. It's just something I'm having trouble getting rid of._

'It's not something that may try to kill me later, is it? Because I think a giant axe-man trying to cut me in two is enough for awhile.'

_No, just don't worry about it. Talk to you later, I got work to do._

And with that, the clicking noise stopped. You know, I'd really hate for him to spill coffee or something in there, cause then my brain might get fried or something. Oh, well. He said not to worry, so I'm not gonna care. But if it does eventually lead to something trying to kill me, I'll lead it to him first for screwing up.

We eventually get back to Iselia and onto Colette's house. I gotta tell you, I'm getting too much exercise today. I've been running and walking all over the place. I'd like a break, like in the form of a sofa or bed or at least a chair. If need be, when we get to Colette's house, I'll knock Kratos out of his chair if I'm tired enough.

Colette's house is decent sized, for Iselia at least. In Tethealla, it would probably be a middle-class house or something. There's a little garden on the side with small plants growing. Guess Phaidra is a gardener. God forbid it was Frank doing all this. You know, I thought there would be a dog here since Colette's obsessed with them, but there isn't one. Guess the only ones around here are Noishe and the wolves. I can see inside the windows a few figures in the house. Guess they've already started talking.

As we go up to the door, it opens before we can reach it and out pops Kratos. This comes as a surprise to me, since we're supposed to go in there, let Lloyd get mad at Kratos and pout, then leave. Instead, here is Kratos himself and he's looking at me…again. Is this guy obsessed with me or something? Maybe he thinks I'm some kind of Cruxis agent sent to keep an eye on him.

"What are you doing here? As I understood it, this was the Chosen's home, not yours." He states, still staring at me. Guess he wants a rematch in the staring contest. Well, you won't beat me, Kratty! I beat you once, I can do it again!

"You apparently must have forgotten. Colette invited us to stop by her house, so here we are. If you'll excuse us, please." I reply, staring right back at him. You know, this must look awkward to other people to see one big guy standing outside the Chosen One's house and staring at three kids who are staring right back.

Kratos breaks eye contact (Yes, I win again!) and lets Lloyd and Genis through, but as I walk up, he holds an arm out to stop me. "I need to have a word with you. Come with me."

Well, this is funny. One minute, he's acting all tough and uncaring, the next he wants to learn more about me. The only problem with this is that it's Kratos who wants to talk to me. This is the guy who took down Vidarr with one blow while we got beat up. Due to these circumstances, one can understand me saying "Huh? Why do you want to talk to me for?"

Kratos walks down the front steps and turns back saying "This is not the place to talk. Someone could overhear us and I do not want that to happen. Now then, come with me." And he proceeded to walk off, leaving me there confused as Lloyd facing Trigonometry.

We walk a short distance from the house to a shaded area in the center of town. Unlike the rest of the place, this area is unpopulated for some reason. Kratos finally stops and turns to face me with an expressionless face, his favorite face. I stop walking and say "Well? What is it? It's not like you just wanted me to look at the trees."

He stares at me again, his other favorite thing to do, for a moment, before asking "Tell me about your past and of how you came to be here."

Oh, shit. He suspects something of me. No wonder he's always staring at me, he's trying to figure out who I am. Crap, what did Trill tell me to say now?

"Uh, right. Where I come from and how I got here. Let's see now, I was born in Luin, you know, the city of Hope? I lived there for about 14 years in peace. Then while I was outside the city exploring, the city was attacked by Desians. By the time I got back when it was safe, a good amount of the people were gone including my parents, and the city was almost completely destroyed. I couldn't live there, so I left and started to travel around for 2 years. Those travels eventually led me to here, where I met Lloyd and the others. You know the rest, don't you?"

Kratos walks off for a moment to look in another direction, apparently thinking about what I said. If anyone can hear this, please let him buy my excuse and not kill me! I'll do anything, ANYTHING!

When Kratos looks back, I can tell something's not right. It's strange for me to say it, but I can feel he doesn't believe me. It's one of those things you can sense about people. That and he also says "You're lying."

I take a cautionary step back, in case he tries to hold me at blade-point and say "What?"

Kratos takes a step forward and continues. "You're lying because Luin has been rebuilt. True, it was destroyed two years ago by Desians; now, however, it has been rebuilt. Why did you not return when it was fixed? Did you not wish to go home or was it another reason?"

I catch my breath and feel my throat tighten up. Well, at least part of it worked, I got that far. But now what? I've got nothing to go on. This could be it right here.

"Well, if you must know," I start, lowering my eyes to his sword. Remember the saying 'Don't trust them as far as they can reach'? I'm taking that to heart. "I was never informed that it was rebuilt. Every time I checked on it, it wasn't fixed. So I eventually gave up on it ever happening. Does that satisfy you?"

Please, please, _please_ let him walk away. Please let the creepy man walk away so he doesn't cut off my head.

Kratos looks at me one last time before answering "Very well, then. I will take you r word as it is, for now. But know this, I'm watching you." And with that he started to walk off. I would have let him go, but I had one last question to ask. "Hey, Kratos! Is it okay for me to tag along on the journey?"

I don't know why I'm asking for permission from him, but I feel like I should. You would too, if he was the strongest person you know.

He stops for a moment and seems to have trouble deciding. "You may come along if you wish. We're leaving at noon tomorrow, so be ready, got it?"

I can't believe it! He's actually gonna let me go!? Yes! I tricked Kratos! I tricked Kratos! I TRICKED KRA- okay, okay, I'll stop now.

"Got it. See you then." I reply, walking off in the opposite direction. Well, dodged a bullet there, or maybe an Uzi, but who cares? I get to go! Looking around, I notice that it's almost nighttime, considering that it's already sunset. Wow, time passes fast when you're being interrogated. Looking ahead, I see someone walking my way. It's the midget mage, Genis!

"HEY! Genis! Over here!" I yell, trying to get his attention. He lifts his head up and notices me. I walk over and see something you don't expect to see. He's breathing a little unevenly, like he just got done running, and his clothes are a little dirtier than before.

"Hey, Tren. What's up? What did Kratos want with you?" He asked. Geez, the kid has an endless curiosity for things. I'd hate to be the one to explain puberty to him, though I might feel a little sorry if Raine tries to explain it.

"Oh, nothing much. Just wanted to know where I came from and all that. What happened to you? You look like you just got done running from something. Raine wasn't trying to smack you, was she?" I say. If she did, there really needs to be a social services place or something to go to.

"No, it's not that. Me and Lloyd went to go visit someone outside of town at the…" he paused, looking around for a moment to see if anyone was listening, then continued, "Human Ranch."

Oh, man! The Ranch! I can't believe I forgot about that! No wonder he's tired, he probably almost got killed.

"Say no more. You don't have to explain yourself to me, Genis. You went to go visit a friend and that's all that happened." I say, knowing full well they had just almost got caught at the ranch for helping Marble.

Genis looks relieved that he doesn't need to explain himself and starts to walk down the pathway. I decide to follow him, seeing as I had nothing else to do. I decide to start up another conversation. "So where are you going now? Home or somewhere else?"

Genis shakes his head and answers "I'm going to Lloyd's house with Colette and the others. She wanted to talk to him about something. I just wanted to tag along."

I nod my head and say "I see. I'll go along too, I haven't seen Lloyd's house yet."

We continue down the path through the woods until we reach Lloyd's house. I expected to run into some monsters, but I guess even they need to rest every once in a while. When we get there, everyone else has already arrived, and Colette has already gone on to the Terrace to talk to Lloyd. As we arrive, Raine and Kratos look back to see us walk up. I nod at both so that Colette and Lloyd can talk in peace. Eventually she comes back down and meets us.

"Oh, hi you two! Nice to see both of you out here!" she says smiling. (Look, Alliteration! Ooohh! Beat that!) "You know about the journey, right?"

I nod and reply "Yep. I'll see you at noon tomorrow, right?"

She nods her head and answers "Yep! All Right, I'm gonna go home now, see you all later!" She says as she walks off with Raine and Kratos. Genis turns to me and says "I gotta go too. If you need a place to stay, Lloyd can probably take care of you."

I nod, saying "All right, then. See you later!" I yell, as Genis runs off. I walk up to the door and knock. Might as well be polite if I'm gonna crash here. Lloyd answered the door with a groggy "Yes?"

Boy, he's quick. He's already ready to go to sleep only a few minutes later after talking to Colette.

"Yeah, I was wondering if I could crash here for the night." I ask. Don't make me use the puppy-eyes on you! You cannot defeat them!

"Yeah, sure. Just make sure to be quiet, dad's already asleep." He replied and opened the door wider to let me in.

They're house looks pretty much like it did in the game. There's a work area for blacksmiths in one corner with a kitchen-like area in another. He leads me upstairs to his room. When I walk in, I'm surprised to see it's clean. I was expecting a mess knowing Lloyd. Walking over to one bed, I throw off my jacket and get under the covers. "Night."

"Night." Lloyd replies from his bed. Soon enough he's snoring and I can feel myself drifting off. Closing my eyes, I let the comfort of the pillow take me away. Sorta feels like home to be honest.

Wait a minute, something doesn't feel right again. When did it so cold all of a sudden? If I'm gonna sleep like this, then I'm stealing Lloyd's covers. Opening my eyes, I'm shocked to see what I see.

I'm not in Lloyd's house; heck, I'm probably not in Iselia anymore. I'm lying on a cold floor that feels like stone or cement. I get up and notice that I've got my clothes on again and I'm apparently standing in what looks like ruins or something like it. There's a row of columns with lit torches accompanying them leading to what I guess is a Mayan-styled temple. You know the ones you saw in history class. After soaking all this in, I only have one thought:

WHAT THE HELL IS THIS AND WHY AM I HERE? Is it just me or am I panicking a lot these days?

**_So you have come._**

****Who the Hell said that? Looking around, I don't see anyone, so who said it? "Who's there? And why have you brought me here?" I yell to no one in particular as far as I can see. When you're in a foreign place and you hear a voice that just oozes with darkness, you tend to panic.

**_I brought you here because I wished it._**

****Hearing the voice behind me, I turn around quickly to see them. What the Hell? Is this a reflection or something? I only see me. I walk towards the reflection as it walks towards me. As we walk, I begin to notice differences between me and him.

He seems to be more muscular and well toned. Looking at his face, I can't see anything yet, but on top, I can see what looks like two tiny horns sticking out of his forehead. On his hands, I notice that his fingernails look like claws, and there are blades sticking out of the top of his wrists where the hand meets the arm. The blades seem to be styled in what looks like the same fashion as a sawfish's nose. They're jagged and serrated, and look to be sharpened to a good edge. They look like they could easily pierce something or rather someone's flesh. When we finally stop walking a few feet away from each other, I can finally see his face.

His face looks similar to mine, same hairstyle and such, but with only a few differences. His irises are blood red and running below them are thin purple streaks that seem to curve his face. He was smiling an evil smile, the one you see on someone who just killed someone for sheer pleasure.

This guy scares the shit out of me. "Who-Who are you?" I stuttered out. Yep, I am officially scared shitless.

He smiles for a moment before answering "**_Simple. I'm you, or rather, the Dark side of you, created by your exsphere."_**

"What do you mean, by my exsphere? How did you come to be?" I ask, trying to look brave and probably failing miserably. Hey, you try facing what looks like the demon version of you and act brave.

"**_I was created the moment you put on that exsphere. You could say that I'm a manifestation of all your powers that you have and will have." _**He answered, still wearing that same scary expression. He then tilted his head and looked at me with feint surprise. "**_I have to admit, I expected different, but no matter. You'll do._**"

I'll do? I'll do what? What is this guy talking about? "What do you mean 'I'll do'?"

He chuckled a bit and responded "**_You'll see. But not now, not here. Maybe later. I want you to be awake when we meet for real. For now, go back to sleep._**" After he said that, he snapped his fingers, causing a large flash of light that blinded me and forced me to throw my hands up.

"_**If you wish to meet me again, find the Twilight Ruins. It is there you will see me again." **_

When I opened my eyes, I was back in Lloyd's house. I shot up in the bed to see if he was still there. Yep, snoring away like no tomorrow. I guess I'm back now, from wherever I was.

'Trill? Trill?! Answer me, dammit!'

_What is it? What's wrong? Are you hurt?_

'No, I'm fine, except for the fact I'm SCARED OUT OF MY WITS!'

_Whoa, slow down. What happened to you?_

'You tell me! One moment I'm sitting here enjoying sleep, the next, I'm being visited by some demonic version of me, saying things like he's a manifestation of my powers or something.'

_Are you sure this is what you saw? Are you positive?_

'Yes, Dammit! I am absolutely positive!'

_Oh, man. I didn't expect it to get this bad._

'What do you mean "It"?'

_You remember that glitch I was talking about earlier today? That was him. He appeared a short while after I left you at the temple. I don't know how he got there, but if he spoke to you while you were sleeping, then he is linked to you now. I can't get rid of him because that would mean getting rid of you._

This is just great. One minute, I'm enjoying my sleep, about to go on a journey to save the world, the next minute; I'm being told that I'm linked to a demonic version of myself. Just great, I must be the luckiest guy in the world.

'So what, he's…inside of me?'

_That would probably be the best way to explain it. He is likely the base of all your future dark powers, but I can't be certain. For now, just be careful and get some sleep. You've got a big day ahead of you._

'Right. I'll get some sleep. Night.'

Man, I knew that this was going to be a tough journey, but I didn't expect this to happen. Sorta makes me feel like wishing I would wake up tomorrow and that this was all a dream. Yeah, right, and Kratos is secretly Willie Wonka.

Author's notes: Geez, my biggest chapter yet! So, what did you think of this one? Read and Review, people, because I ain't dead yet!


	8. Desians and Exile

Hmm, chapter 7. I didn't think I'd get this far in the story, but judging by the reviews I've gotten, people like this story somewhat, so I'll keep it going. Last time, Tren had gotten the invitation from Kratos to go on the journey and had decided to sleep over at Lloyd's place. While there, he had a nightmare, where he saw himself in a temple like area and talking with a dark version of himself. When he awakes, Trill informs him that he's a part of him created by the dark exsphere. Boy, a lot's changed for this kid since he's left Earth. On with the story!

* * *

I start to wake up again after going to sleep after talking to Trill about shadow me. To be honest, I feel like crap, because I kept waking up every 15 minutes because I would see his face again, grinning that evil grin of his. I don't even want to know how he got that grin; I just want him to leave me alone for now.

I try to go back to sleep when I hear the shuffling of feet coming from inside the room. Guess Sleeping Beauty finally got up. By the sound of his steps, he's walking over here. Please Lloyd, let me be lazy like you for once and actually get away with it. He starts to shake me up a bit to wake me up. Dammit, I want sleep!

"Ugghh, what is it? I'm trying to sleep." I groan out, hoping he'll just leave me alone. Then again, I might need to get up. And I will, if I get to sleep for about, oh, say, two more hours.

"You need to get up anyway, Tren. Dad's made breakfast and told me to wake you up." Oh, how considerate of you, Lloyd. You have my gratitude. Now, be a good boy and let me sleep.

"Ugghh, all right, I'll get up." Rising up from the sheets, I feel the heat from them leave me only to now feel slightly wet as if someone threw a bucket of water on me. Guess I must have sweated from the nightmare. I wonder if there are any dream-catchers here in Iselia. You know, the one's Indians make to let you have good dreams while keeping out the bad.

Lloyd walked down the stairs to the first floor, leaving me to make up my bed and get my clothes on. You know, something's missing here. Wasn't Lloyd supposed to stay up all night and fix up Colette's necklace? Yet he's wide awake like as if he did sleep. Looking around, I don't see anything looking like crafting materials or even a necklace. Guess Lloyd is just as lazy as I am in the morning.

Walking downstairs, I am greeted by the aromas of many foods, some of which I recognize form Earth. Looking down at the table, I can see one of the most glorifying sights to see at a breakfast table: Pancakes! Yes, ladies and gentleman, they have Pancakes here in this world. The cool points for this place just went up 15 points. This is truly a blessing from the heavens.

Sitting down at the table, Lloyd's already started without me, taking his own shares of food at the table. Better yet, might as well call it the breakfast buffet. He had already taken a few of the pancakes, as well as some eggs and toast. I pick up a plate set aside for me and start to fill my plate, making sure to get some pancakes before Lloyd eats them all. I also decide to go for some balance, so I get some eggs and bacon too. To drink, I picked up a glass to see it was milk. Geez, they went all out with this one. Or maybe this is what Lloyd eats everyday?

Lloyd swallows some food and looks at me. "Hey, Tren. Did you sleep all right last night? By the sound of it and how you look now, I doubt it." How would you know? You slept all the way through my nightmare, snoring away like someone with a head cold.

Swallowing my bite of eggs, I reply "Nah, I was fine. Just got a little too hot was all." I then took a drink from my milk glass. No need to worry Lloyd with me going crazy, right? Let's just go with that for now.

"Because I heard you muttering last night, something about darkness and some other things I couldn't quite catch." I almost choke on my milk after hearing this. How could he have heard that? He was asleep!

Trying to reply without looking suspicious, I try to say "It was nothing at all." But what came out instead was "It wa-cough, wasn't anything at all!" Was he feigning sleep when I looked at him last night? Is that how he heard me? And I actually talk in my sleep?!

"All right, if you say so. I'll believe you. But that really doesn't matter now, because today we get to go on the regeneration journey!" Again, I nearly choke on my drink. How could I have possibly forgotten about that? Then again, when you dream of a dark you sounding like he's daring you to find him; you tend to forget a few things when you're concerned about your own life.

Cleaning up my plate, I set it to the side and head back upstairs to make sure I have all my stuff. Looking by my bed, I notice a bag sitting at the foot of it. Probably one of Lloyd's random bundles of crafted knickknacks. But he didn't say I couldn't look inside. So let's have a look inside, shall we?

Opening the bag, I notice that this really couldn't be his bag, considering that the stuff inside wouldn't fit. There was a few capsules of apple gels, as well as what I could guess was orange gels. Hey, their orange packs, so I'm calling them orange gels, deal with it! Aside from that I can see a few other things, like a bottle containing purplish-pinkish liquid inside. There was also a small bag inside, and when I picked it up, it jingled a little bit. Jackpot, I have cash!

I'm about to just take this bag for myself when I notice a small envelope stuck to the bottom. Picking it off, I notice it's addressed to me. Trill couldn't have done this, could he have? If he did, then I guess I can forgive him for the whole Vidarr-giant axe ordeal.

Opening it, I find that it is indeed from Trill. It read:

_Dear Tren,_

_I just remembered when writing this that I was supposed to give you some items. You will probably need these seeing as how you'll be going with Lloyd and Genis to Triet instead of with Colette. Hey, that rhymed! Anyways, just be careful out there._

_From, Trill._

…Bullshit. Absolute bullshit. How could I have forgotten that the invitation was fake? ARRGH! Kratos, I'll get you for this! I don't know how, but this is somehow you're fault and I will get you back for it! Even if it does seem to somehow be Colette's fault as well, I'll get you!

Picking up my new traveling bag, I headed back down the stairs to see Lloyd had gone outside. Guess he's going to talk with his dad. You know, in the game, he said he was punched by his dad, but I never saw a bruise. Maybe he just recovers quickly or something like that. Going outside, I see him standing next to his mom's grave with his dad. Guess I haven't missed much.

I was about to walk to the bridge leading across the little stream outside the house, when I feel something small and wet push against my hand. Looking down, I see everyone's favorite lovable cowardly dog, Noishe! Kneeling down, I reach to pet his head. He allows me to and seems to enjoy the petting. It's funny; I thought all dogs had to learn to trust new people first before letting them touch them. I suppose Noishe is just more trusting than others.

Lloyd finally comes back from talking with Dirk, carrying his own little bag of supplies when he notices me and Noishe. Walking over, he pets Noishe on the head as well. This dog is almost pampered too much, by the looks of it. No wonder he runs from danger every time it appears. And no, I'm not against dogs, it's you'd think Noishe would at least growl or something.

"Ready to go?" Lloyd asked after finishing his little boy/dog moment. Noishe looks up as if he doesn't approve his leaving, but doesn't really care. He then walks off and back to what I guess is his little home for a nap. What a lazy dog. Yet I'm a little envious seeing as how he gets to sleep and I don't!

"Yep, let's get going. Where's Genis at? Doesn't he want to see us off?" I replied, wondering where everyone's favorite midget mage had disappeared to.

"I don't know…hey, there he is! HEY, Genis! We're over here!" Yells Lloyd over to the little mage, who upon seeing us, sighs in relief, but then puts on a face of anger. Oh dear, an angry midget mage. I'm so terrified.

Running over, Genis immediately asks "Why are you guys still here? Colette's already left!" Well of course she did, Genis, she gave us a fake invitation after all.

"What? She told us she was leaving at Noon! It's only 11 o'clock now!" Lloyd answered, starting to look confused himself. Heh, he looks funny when he's confused. His face gets all scrunched up like he's actually thinking hard. "Let's go talk to Phaidra, maybe she knows what's going on!" Lloyd then said, running off into the path to Iselia. Man, I can't believe we have to start running already. I'm still tired here people!

We all run off back to the village to try to figure out what's going on. Well, Lloyd and Genis at least are. I'm just jogging alongside to tag along. I already know what's going to happen. We go to the village, talk to Phaidra, almost get the truth out of Frank, then we rush back outside to fight the desians and eventually Marble in her monster form. Shit, so much activity in such little time, wish I'd gotten more sleep.

Running to the entrance of the village, however, we come across a rather disturbing sight. The village has begun to be assaulted by the desians. And by begun, I mean that they've started setting fires to the houses while Forcystus waits in the middle of the town square, looking all superior like an ass-hole.

We stand there, soaking it in for a moment, making me again realize that whatever happens here is real now, not fake like on Earth. If someone dies, then they really are dead. Unless you have like a life bottle or something, that's supposed to revive people, right? Has anyone else noticed that my knowledge of common ideas is very low?

Apparently, some of the desians take notice of us, seeing as how they are running at us with their whips out ready to uh, whup us. Genis puts down his bag and quickly casts fireball, burning one of the desians and making him stop. That leaves me and Lloyd with two desians each. Oh, Joy.

Putting down my bag, I quickly put back on my gauntlets and charge at my two goons. They try to split themselves in two directions so as to confuse me, but it ends up being unsuccessful when they both trip over their own feet. Must be new trainees or something. They then get up and try to attack me. One tries to lash at my leg, so I lift it up and swing at him on the way back down. The connection wasn't too well, considering that he had a helmet on, but it had the desired effect seeing as how he fell to the ground clutching his head.

The other idiot, whom I've now decided to call lunkhead number 2, becomes slightly distressed and angry at the failure of lunkhead number 1. He tries to lash at me as well, succeeding in wrapping the whip around my hand holding me back. He grins and starts to pull me back towards him. Okay, two obvious things to notice in this situation. One, this guy just basically attached himself to me, making it very easy to overpower him. Second, that grin of his isn't a normal grin; it's sorta like that perverted grin you see on idiots like, well, Zelos. And I don't happen to like perverts much.

Grabbing onto the rope, I heave him back towards me, causing him to lose his footing and fall forwards. As he fell, I ran forward and rammed his stomach with a Shell Bullet, causing him to slip into unconsciousness with a small whimper. Throwing him down, I look to Lloyd to see he has taken care of his opponents. This guy's a quick worker, all right. I wonder if he's trying to show off any. Oh well, if it get's the job done.

"That was too easy. These guys are pushovers." Lloyd said. To be honest, I gotta agree. I imagined that these guys would be tougher to fight, but at the rate I was beating these guys, I ain't got anything to worry about.

"Let's get moving. We need to see if there are any others in trouble." Genis said, picking up his sack. The rest of us picked up ours and moved along. We eventually came across another set of desians, who were trying to harm a family who had taken shelter inside of a house. Lloyd and Genis held them off while I got the family out. It wasn't exactly easy, seeing as how the desians had gone as far as to set the house on fire. But we eventually got everyone out before it collapsed.

"Everyone all right? Anybody hurt?" I asked, making sure that they hadn't been harmed by the fire or the desians.

"We're all right, I think. Thank you so much for your help. Please make sure you are safe." The father of the family said. At least I assumed it was the father, seeing as how he was the oldest guy among them. He and his family then took off down the path. Man this is ridiculous. I understand that the desians are ruthless, but attacking viciously like this is ludicrous.

"Let's go to the town square. Everyone else usually gathers there in case of a disaster. The desians might be there as well, so be ready." Lloyd said, and rushed down the path. I thought Lloyd was just wasting his breath, considering that we've already been in two fights and easily won. I picked up my bag and proceeded to follow when Genis let out a cry. Looking back, I thought another desian might have gotten a hold of him, but he was looking somewhere else.

Running up to him, I asked "Genis, what's wrong?" Genis had tears in his eyes as he pointed towards another house we had past, which had already been consumed by the flames and been destroyed. Looking at it now, it made me angry to see that it had been reduced to cinders. How dare they do that to my friend's home! "That was Raine and mine's house. We finally thought we had a home here, too…" Genis said, lowering his head to hide his tears.

I can't believe this. I know I'm supposed to think of this as a game, that all of this was fake, and that it never actually occurred, but I couldn't help the rage I felt from seeing it happen and being powerless to stop it. It made me feel like almost running up to Forcystus, ripping his cannon arm off, and beating him with it.

Putting a hand on Genis' shoulder, I kneeled down and said "I know its hard Genis. It isn't an easy sight to see." I stopped for a moment to consider whether or not I should continue, but seeing the poor kid's face so sad made me continue. "I also understand that it's not easy for you to finally find a home, considering you being a half-elf, Genis."

At this last remark, Genis' head shot up and looked me directly in the face. He almost looked angry, and even a little afraid. "You knew? For how long did you know?" He asked, staring at me with teary blue eyes. I hadn't meant to frighten him with this revelation, but I felt that the little guy needed comfort.

I myself once experienced something like this. It was when I was about 10 or so. I had a place I used to always play in when I was alone. I would go there and let myself fly away with my imagination. One day, however, it was torn down to make way for a new building. When I saw what had happened, I ran home crying. My father was at home and when he saw me, asked what was wrong. I told him of my secret place and how I used to play there all the time. He then held me in a deep hug and told me that it would be all right. I eventually got over it, but this memory remains with me to this day.

"I confirmed it when I saw you cast magic. Elves are able to cast magic, but it is often not as strong as half-Elvin spell casting. Nor is it as accurate." I replied, hoping I hadn't frightened the little guy into thinking I was going to hate him. I also hope that he buys my explanation, because it was all completely made up on the spot.

"Do you care that…that I'm a half-elf?" He whispered, looking away as he spoke towards his house again. I guess the kid's really insecure when it comes to revealing his true race. You would be too, if you were persecuted as much as they were. It's pretty similar to that of racism from the Civil War times, where blacks were mistreated and often prejudiced against for being who they were.

"I don't care if you're a half-elf, Genis. It is not a crime to be what you are. You are my friend, and that's all that matters to me." I said smiling as Genis looked back and started smiling too. "Now then, I believe we have Desians to take care of and a village to save, if I recall right." I continued, standing up and picking up my bag. Genis picked up his bag and ran off towards the path Lloyd had been on. I raced after him.

When we arrived at the town square, there was already a crowd of people there, gathered around to form a large circle. We broke through the crowd to see Lloyd standing on one side with the mayor and others behind him and desians on the other side with Forcystus in front of them. We ran up to Lloyd so he would know we had his back covered.

Looking at us as we approached, he smiled and said "Where've you two been? I was getting worried that you two had been caught." I laid down my bag as did Genis and we moved to either side of him. Looking back at him, I replied "It was nothing. Just had to take care of something. Care to explain what's going on here? They look as if they've lost their dog or something and came to blame it on us."

Lloyd snickered before answering "That guy in front of them, Forcystus, is the little ringleader of the group. He claims that we broke the treaty with them and that we have to be punished."

Getting a good look at Forcystus, I can see that he has a confident smirk on, probably thinking about how he is so great or some other bull-crap like that. "This wouldn't happen to have to do with your visit to the ranch, does it?" I ask, knowing that the answer would be yes. If it wasn't, then the "Lost Dog" theory sounded pretty good right about now.

Lloyd looked at me in surprise before answering "I don't know how you learned about it, but yeah, I think so. We had just gone to visit an old friend of Genis' to tell her about the Oracle. When we escaped, he must have caught our faces on camera."

Forcystus stepped forward and looked like he had something to say that was important. All right, everyone shut up. The robotic dumbass has something to say and thinks we should listen.

"Lloyd Irving, you are hereby charged with breaking the treaty we have with your village. We have come to bring judgment to this place to show you the consequences of defying us Desians." He said with a smirk. Oh, how I would love to wipe that smirk off of his face. Please let me do it. Just one Shell Bullet and BOOSH! (Onomatopoeia! HA!)

Lloyd gets mad for a second before replying, "We broke it? You guys broke it first. You tried to attack Colette at the Temple of Martel!" Well, technically Lloyd, they weren't there, but let's go with that anyways. No point in revealing a huge plot hole in the beginning of a game.

Forcystus laughs for a few seconds before replying "You are a fool. We did no such thing. But regardless, you broke the treaty and must be punished. Now face your judgment!" He then threw his hands, err, hand back as a signal, which was soon followed by the sound of loud thumping. This refers to one of the oldest video game rules in existence. If an enemy's footsteps are loud, then it is likely you're in trouble. Thank you for listening and enjoy your fight.

The creature that was brought forth was about 9 ft tall, I guess. It had a large cloth placed over its body, the sort you would see on slaves clothing or something like that. Its body limbs were green and it had a bright yellow orb as an eye on top of what looked like…a pickle head. I kid you not; doesn't it look like a pickle-head?

It seemed to roar and charged at us with long arms extended as well as looking to rip us apart with its red claws. We each dodged its assault and began our attacks. Genis chose to attack with stone blast which upset the creatures footing, but did little more than that. Lloyd started to run in to slash at its legs, but had to duck to avoid getting swung away. I chose to rush in at its chest with a shell bullet. It connected, but seemed to anger it as well as damage it. Next thing I know, I'm sent flying as well as Lloyd and we land on the ground. Lloyd lands and rolls to safety while I land on my back and feel all the air just rush out of me. Damn, that thing hits hard!

Getting up, I notice that the area around its feet was cracked, which meant two things: One, this thing is waaayyy too heavy, and two, I can easily trip it up with an earth-shaker. But I can't hit it unless it holds still for a minute. Looking at Genis, I notice that the midget mage has resumed casting spells while we were down, drawing the creatures attention towards him. Lloyd rushed forward to distract it by sonic thrusting its leg, causing it to kneel while allowing Genis to escape. The creature quickly recovered and responded by sending Lloyd flying back again.

You know it's funny, I don't remember the creature being this tough before. It always got tripped up if you attacked enough. Guess physics didn't apply at the time, unlike now. "This thing is tough." I concluded, panting slightly due to the rate of fighting we've done. Lloyd wasn't kidding about being ready. "But I think I have an idea that can help."

Lloyd looked over at me and said "What do we need to do? And I hope it's quick, because I'm getting tired of being knocked down to be honest with you." Whoa, guess even the great, energetic Lloyd gets tired of fighting after awhile.

I straightened up and dusted myself off. "See the ground around the creature? It's all cracked because of the pressure of the creature's weight." I answered, pointing at the ground so they get my point (dun-dun, tiss). "Lloyd can distract it while Genis attacks it with Stone Blast. Then, while it's tripped up, I can attack with earth-shaker and maybe knock it down. Then we can go all out on it while it's down." Whoa, is it just me, or do I come up with good plans or what? I just hope it works before I get slashed with those claws.

"All right, let's give it a shot. Your ideas haven't failed us yet." Lloyd said, preparing to charge at the being. Genis scooted to my side ready to cast his spells. To be quite honest, it looked like one of those cheesy western scenes where it's a gunfight between the hero and the villain. Heck, I could have sworn I saw a tumbleweed roll by.

"Ready…GO!" I yelled, and Lloyd rushed forward. The beast tried to swipe at him, but Lloyd dodged each blow. Running up to its torso, he performed a sonic thrust right into it, resulting in the creature howling in pain. He then leapt off the being, leaving us to do our work. Genis cast stone blast, causing the beast to trip up. Then I followed up with an earth-shaker. As I hit the ground, the earth rolled forward in a wave, and then jagged rocks appeared in a row, striking the being and knocking it down.

"Pant…pant…is it over?" Lloyd asked, looking like he was ready to collapse. He did have to do a bunch of running, so I won't call him lazy this time.

"I think so. Phew, that was tough." I replied, feeling ready to drop to the ground myself, but I have to look cool, so I won't. Genis already had though, I don't blame him either. The guy probably did more running than what he's used to having to do, be it running from Raine or monsters.

"Man, I'm glad that's…uh-oh." Genis said as he turned around to look at the people behind him. Looking back myself, I could only agree. Uh-oh, indeed.

The whole crowd didn't look happy that we beat it. To be honest, they actually looked angry. Don't tell me there's a hippy-animal rights group in Iselia. Then the mayor walks forward, looking angry as well. Oh yeah, this buffoon wants to kick us out of here because they messed up at the ranch. Before he had a chance to speak, Forcystus beat him to the punch.

"You fools! I told you to push them harder! Now look what's happened!" He yelled, apparently upset that his creature was beaten by little kids. "No matter, I'll finish you myself, once and for all!" He then pointed his arm cannon and was about to fire it when the creature leapt up and tackled him.

"What the heck?" Genis whispered in disbelief. What the heck indeed. Why would it defend us? Hang on a minute. This doesn't make sense. Wasn't there a scene where we were told how these creatures were created from human beings?

"_Genis, Lloyd, get away, quickly!_" A voice rang out. It took me a few seconds to realize it was the creature who had spoken. But the voice sounded old, like that of an elderly person. How could it have that kind of voice?

"No…it can't be…Marble?" Lloyd muttered, looking very pale all of a sudden. Wait a minute, Marble? Wasn't she that one old lady who…oh, you're shitting me. You have to be.

"Marble? Is it really you?" Genis asked, looking like he was going to cry again. Dammit, please don't be her, please!

"_Genis…you were like a grandson to me… goodbye…_" Marble's voice rang out. Then her body seemed to glow bright yellow, before exploding. I couldn't move as the shockwaves were felt. That was Marble? As in the Marble who was Genis' friend? Oh no, what have I done, what have I done?

A stone seemed to fly out after the explosion, and landed out in front of Genis. He picked it up and almost immediately started to cry. I almost did too. That's two innocent people that have died in front of me now. How many more will pass? I don't think I even want to know.

"Lloyd, I promise you, we will hunt you down and we will find you and your precious exsphere!" Forcystus said, after the rubble cleared. He looked worse for wear, but wasn't bleeding. He and his cohorts warped out of there, leaving us to grieve over Marble.

"Genis…I realize that this was someone precious to you…I'm sorry." I whispered quietly, truly sorry for what had happened. He stood up after a minute or two and wiped his eyes. He then looked at me and said "It's all right. You didn't know any better."

"If you are just about done, I believe it's time you three were punished for your crimes." A voice said out loud. I turned around to see the mayor standing there with his arms folded on his chest, with some people standing behind him.

I got angry after hearing that. How can he just expect us to move along so quickly? Looking the mayor in the eyes, I could feel my anger seeping through them, wishing to be able to just punch him for saying that. "How dare you. Have you no remorse?! An innocent woman just died here! Can't you at least allow us a moment to grieve?!"

The mayor looked slightly shaken for a moment from my outburst, and then regained his composure. "I don't care about that. You caused the destruction of the village, and you've been singled out by the desians. Do you know what this means?" He finished, trying to look as furious as possible at Lloyd. To be honest, an old, fat guy like him doesn't scare me one bit. That and I'm angry makes it seem like he's only whining instead of actually being angry.

Genis' expression quickly changed from sadness to shock. "Wait a minute; you're not gonna exile him are you?" He asked, seemingly worried about his friend.

The mayor turned to face Genis and answered "Not only Lloyd will be exiled, you two will be as well. You have caused enough harm to the good people of this village. Now get out of here!" He finished, walking away with most of the crowd. Geez, talk about a coward. He wouldn't have even spoken if no one was backing him up.

Frank and Phaidra walked up to us with sadness on their faces as well. They obviously didn't want to see us go, either. "Listen closely, you three. If you head out now, there is a good chance you can catch up with Colette and the others. Maybe if you help out with the regeneration journey, everyone will forgive you." She then gave a map to Lloyd, who looked like as if he wanted to believe this was all a dream.

"Wait a minute, Phaidra. How come Colette told us the wrong time to meet her?" Lloyd asked, remembering the reason why he had came out here in the first place. Phaidra merely shook her head in response and said "It is not my place to speak. When you catch up with Colette, she will give you the answer."

"All right, then. I guess this is…goodbye." Lloyd said as he walked towards the exit of the town. Genis and I followed suit. Genis had a look of remorse on his face while I was deep in thought.

This story has changed much from what it was originally. It's like time has been skipping on us or something, well, really it's been skipping me. When we were supposed to meet with Phaidra, we instead skipped to the fight with the desians. When Lloyd and Genis went to the ranch, I instead suffered an interrogation by Kratos. Trill couldn't possibly be moving the story along that quickly on purpose, unless he has a good reason for it. The next time I speak with him, I'll have to ask.

Then again, he did say that my influence would change events in the story in different ways. That I would cause different things to happen. I just hope nothing too big changes and I'm the reason for it.

Another thing I want to ask him about is that shadow me. That dude was definitely not someone I wanted to run into, especially here. Even if we met up with Kratos and the others, if he appeared, it's likely he would kill us easily. How someone so powerful could possibly be connected to me is beyond my scope of mind. I just hope that if we do meet, we're strong enough to hold him off long enough to run away. Especially if he's supposed to have all of my future powers.

Breaking out of these dark thoughts, I look at Lloyd and Genis, who almost seem to be in the same mode I'm in. They had their heads down and looked pretty sad. Guess that maybe I should break the ice. "You know, to be honest, I'm kinda glad that we got exiled."

Genis and Lloyd looked up and at me with double incredulous looks. "What do you mean?"

Looking forward at the path, I continue. "I mean, I see no reason to stay in a place where the mayor is heartless and all of the village people seem to be cowards hiding behind him. Except for Frank and Phaidra, of course. It's actually kind of an improvement."

Lloyd and Genis share glances before Genis speaks up. "Yeah, but we don't have a home anymore to go to." Okay, you've got me there. Okay, think hard now, Tren.

"As true as that may be, would you prefer to live in a place where everyone feels hatred and grief around you because they blame you for what happened? Or would you prefer to live free to where you aren't bound by such things?"

Genis looked down again for a moment before answering "Well, you do have a point. I would prefer to live somewhere else rather in a place like that."

I smiled and said "You see, it's not so bad. You just have to make the best out of your situation is all. Now then, I believe we have a Chosen One to go find?"

Genis and Lloyd smiled too, apparently putting their negative feelings away for the time being. "All right then. Let's go find Colette!" Lloyd said, picking up his walking pace down the path.

"Okay then, let's get going!" I say. I have to admit I'm glad that's behind me now. Now I can focus on the journey of Regeneration. I just hope it's not too long of a journey. I would like to rest every now and again, you know?

* * *

Author's notes: Whoa, I didn't mean to get that emotional. Guess I bear a grudge against the mayor for being a Jack-ass. Oh, well. Read and review! 


	9. Desert Crossing

Author's notes: It's about time I worked on this story again. I've been too busy with my other stories. Oh well, maybe now, people will actually leave reviews of the story. I hope they like this one. And now, disclaimer!

Lloyd: Raenef the 6th doesn't own Tales of Symphonia, Namco does though.

Me: True, the lucky bastards. On with the story!

* * *

We have been walking for awhile now, me in the back with Lloyd and Genis in front of me. We had just left Iselia after the whole ranch massacre and it looks like they're still feeling down about it. I suppose I would too, if my home was destroyed for some stupid reason like talking to a friend. We're a good distance away, but even so, I still feel a little sad myself.

I find it sort of odd for me to be so emotional right now. I've acted kinda…weird too. I've acted tough in the beginning, and then I switched from that to being a person of faith after seeing that dead preacher, then straight to angry at the mayor after Marble died. Normally when I play the game, I don't feel that way, but now it just seems so real now that it's become a reality. I should probably try to put those behind me so I don't become a hysterical wreck.

Speaking of wrecks, Genis himself was looking the worst of the bunch. I can't really blame him to be honest. He's lost his home that he and his sister owned, lost one of his only friends in the village, and was banished from the village. It's a lot for one kid to take. I'm surprised he hasn't gone all emo from these incidents, but maybe that's just his determination showing. Yet, as he walked, one could tell he was sad. His shoulders were slouched, and his head was hanging a little lower than it should be. He was dragging his feet too, making a shuffling sound as we walked onward. Someone needs to talk to the kid, and I guess I'll have to be that someone.

"Hey, Genis," I say, walking up to catch up with him. He turns his head at my voice. "Are you all right? You've been acting really depressed lately."

He turned his head back to the ground and muttered, "No, I'm not alright. In fact, I feel pretty horrible right now." He picked his head up and stared at the road in front of him. "All that stuff that happened back their, it's my entire fault. I dragged Lloyd to the ranch, where he got caught on their security system. And then the village got destroyed, and Marble's…" he faded off, unable to finish what he wanted to say.

It was just as I thought. He was still sad about all that happened in Iselia, and he was kinda telling the truth. I'm not saying that Genis is guilty and deserves to feel that way, but no matter how you look at it, it does seem that way. I sighed quietly, trying to think of how to comfort the guy. Yet I couldn't think of anything to say. It seemed as if I was trying to make good of a situation that was bad.

Hang on a minute. Didn't Raine say something to Lloyd when he talked to her about what happened at the Ranch? She said something about what they did was morally right, but not legally. What did she say?

"Look, I'm gonna be honest with you Genis," I said finally. Genis nodded his head to show he was listening, but he kept his gaze towards the road. "After hearing all this, I have to kind of agree with you about it being your fault; you did get caught at the ranch, which inevitably lead to Marble's death." Genis lowered his head in shame. "However, that doesn't mean what you did was absolutely wrong."

Genis jerked up at this and swung his head around to face me. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Lloyd paying attention as well. I guess he wasn't feeling up to par either with the way things have been going for these guys. I decided to continue with my explanation and hope that I don't screw up.

"What you did back at the ranch, helping Marble and all that, that was morally correct. You did that because you knew the difference between what was right and was wrong in that situation. You couldn't have known that this Forcystus guy would go so far as to attack your village, just to get back at you. If anything, this situation we're in was caused by circumstances outside of our control." I explained. I was about to resume when I caught their expressions. It was absolutely priceless to see Genis and Lloyd somewhat dumbstruck by the logic. Note to self: Don't use Earth psychology around game characters; they'll just go brain-dead on you.

"What I'm trying to say is that you shouldn't blame yourself for everything that happened. You need to move on and not burden yourself like this; if you do, it's likely it will only make your life worse if you stay all mopey like this. Think for a moment; if it was someone else who had been the creature you fought, would you feel as bad as you do now?"

Genis seemed to think about it a moment. I honestly hope he understands what I'm saying, because if there is one character I'd like to see be in a good mood, it would have to be Genis. He deserves some happiness, instead of the foolish oppression he receives from the world. He picked up his head as he spoke. "I…guess not. I mean…I'd still feel bad about the person dying and all, but aside from that, no, I wouldn't."

I looked to Lloyd to see if he was still following. "Lloyd, how about you? Would you still feel as bad as I described?" I asked him.

Lloyd put on what I could assume was his thinking face, his eyes closed and crossing his arms. I observed that while he thought, he kept on walking, and I just found that to be creepy. 'How can someone close their eyes and keep walking like it's nothing?' I thought to myself, making a note to ask him about that later.

Lloyd finally opened his eyes and replied "I don't really know. I would still feel bad about the person dying, but maybe not as much if I didn't know them." He then turned his head to me and asked "How do you know so much about stuff like this? Has it happened before to you?" Genis looked at me as well, with a curious expression on his face.

Crap, crap, crap! How do I get out of this!? I knew I shouldn't have acted all Dr. Phil on them like that! Think, Tren, think!

"Uh, well…" I floated off, trying to think of a suitable answer other than just saying "Because" because it would be totally cheap and suspicious.

"I mean, you don't have to tell us if you don't want to, if that's what you'd like." Lloyd said, unknowingly allowing my mind to scream hallelujah to the heavens for sheer dumb luck.

"Yeah," I finally answered, "It's probably better you didn't know how I know these things. You know mental trauma and all that." There was silence for a moment before Lloyd asked "What's mental trauma?"

I was about to smack myself in response, reminding myself that I was dealing with Lloyd after all, when Genis beat me to the punch with a loud smack to the forehead. He then answered Lloyd's question. "It's another word for headache, Lloyd."

Lloyd nodded his head and refocused on the path ahead of us. I looked forward as well to see a clearing where we could possibly stop. "What do you guys say we take a break for a minute? We've been walking for quite awhile now. We can stop at that clearing." I spoke, pointing to the said clearing ahead.

"Yeah, I agree. I could use a break after all this." Genis responded, shifting the bag over his shoulders to make himself feel more comfortable. I could feel my shoulders cheering in victory as we all settled down for a moment to rest. I massaged my right shoulder, it's been killing me ever since that last fight.

"So," I said, rubbing my shoulder to get the soreness out. Yay for the soothing of muscles! "How far are we from reaching Triet, you think?"

Lloyd pulled out the map given to us by Frank and Phaidra and dragged his finger down across it. "It looks like we're still a few miles away from reaching the desert, let alone Triet. It'll be awhile." He answered, rolling the map up and storing it back inside his knapsack. I finally stopped massaging my shoulder, satisfied by the feeling of muscles at ease, and finally laid back on my rock to relax.

I can't believe all this crap that's happened already. I wasn't even supposed to know about Genis being a half-elf, and I've already blabbed it out! Then, I get banished from Iselia along with Genis and Lloyd. Now we're stuck out here in the middle of nowhere, trying to catch up with a group of people who are way far ahead of us. Not to mention the desert we have to cross…

Yep, I officially declare us three guys to be boned beyond help.

_Hey, Tren. You got a sec?_

Oh, great. And now the lazy spirit wants to talk. This just gets better and better.

'Yeah, what is it?'

_What's the matter with you? Last I checked, you were all talkative and cheery-like. Now you've gone and got all grumpy for some reason. Care to elaborate?_

'Oh, it's nothing really; I'm just having a little difficulty dealing with all the BULLSHIT that YOU THREW AT ME!'

_Like what? I didn't do anything wrong._

'Oh really? Let's see, there was the dark me I saw in my sleep, the whole destruction of Iselia, getting left behind by the chosen's group. Should I continue?'

_Okay, okay. I get the point. I just wanted to notify you that you're dark powers are starting to manifest._

This perked my interest. Then again, having the power to cause mass destruction at will is pretty entertaining for any guy like me, so I decided to ask. 'Okay, how'd that happen? You said that they wouldn't appear for a long time.'

_I didn't say that! I said they would appear in time. But regardless of that, I'm trying to figure that out myself. Have you experienced a bunch of emotions lately?_

Hmm, let's see. Anger at the mayor and Forcystus, sadness over Marble's death, and also the all the adrenaline from my fights and exercise. I'm pretty sure that qualifies as emotions. 'Yeah, what does that have to do with anything?'

_Well, if you've been experiencing a bunch of emotions lately, that might have set it off kilter a little bit. It seems to be responding mostly to your emotions; your anger the most. It's still gonna be awhile before anything actually materializes, so don't worry about it._

'So you're basically telling me to act like how Kratos does around Lloyd?'

…_Well, yeah that pretty much sums it up. Just be careful since this is all still a little unstable. See you later. _He then cut off the connection, leaving me alone in my head again. Ahh, the sweet peace…

_Oh, wait a second. I forgot something._

So much for peace.'Dammit, what is it?'

_Make sure to ask Genis about how to cast magic. If you want to learn how to wield spells, you might as well start now._

_'_But…Humans can't cast magic.'

_You can._

'…I can?'

_Yes, you can._

'Really?'

_Yes, really._

'…Really, really?'

_YES, DAMMIT! NOW ASK!_

'Alright, fine, I'll ask. Now buzz off, you're giving me a headache like all the other times you've visited me.'

_Fine…ungrateful bum…_

'I heard that, and I'm not a bum; I'm a teenager who likes to relax just a little too much.'

Trill finally left, leaving me to finally think on my own. It's not like I've got anything against Trill, it's just annoying how he just bumps into my head all the time. No, annoying isn't the right word. More along the lines of irritating, probably. Leaning up from my relaxed position, I looked to see Lloyd already asleep and Genis reading the map. Kid must want to make sure he catches up with his sister.

"Hey, Genis. Can I ask you a question?" I said, ignoring the fact that I had just asked a question, so I've answered myself and…you know what? What do you care, just keep reading!

"You just did. What is it?" Genis replied, looking up from the map. I felt my eyebrow twitch a little, but ignored it.

"I was wondering something. How exactly does one go about casting magic?" I asked carefully, not wanting my true intentions to be known. Genis would probably be the best teacher for me right now, so it'd be best if I was on his good side.

"Why do you want to know? Humans can't cast magic." Genis questioned me, putting the map down to focus on our discussion.

I quickly put my hands up in defense. "Well, I've got a liiiittle Elvin blood in me. And no, it's not that. I'm just curious is all. I've always wondered how it exactly worked."

Genis seemed to think it over a moment before saying, "Are you sure you want me to tell you? It would take quite awhile to explain fully." I guess the kid's being careful, too. Maybe he doesn't want to give away information he feels only he should know?

I shifted in my seat to get comfortable and show that I was willing to listen. "That's fine by me. With Lloyd out, we've got plenty of time to talk. So how does it work? Do you just call out the spell's name or what?" I said, putting my full attention on the midget mage. Who knows, maybe I can benefit from this other than learning the basics of magic.

Genis moved around in his seat until he sat in a new way with his legs set Indian-style, focusing on me with his eyes as well. "To begin with the explanation, you must first understand what mana is. I trust you know what mana is, don't you?" He started.

I racked my brains for a good answer. "Let's see. It's the magical force that exists within our planet; it acts as the life force of living things and is basically even more important than water?" I ended, hopeful that my answer was correct.

Genis smiled and nodded. "That's correct. Mana is basically the energy we use to do everyday things. Mana is created in nature, by living things' positive energy. This energy is slowly fed into nature, allowing it to spread to the planet and its beings. Normal people who don't train or practice magic like me and Lloyd do tend to have an average amount of mana in their bodies. Some people have more than others, but not enough to make a significant difference. There's a difference among races too.Elves and Half-elves have what's called either spiritual or elemental mana. Spiritual is light-based and elemental is, well, elementally-based."

He was about to continue, but I had a question. "Wait a minute. What do human beings have then?"

"Well, they have what is called physical mana, and has no base." Genis replied.

"Why is that though?" I asked, earnestly curious to the details.

"Well, it's because we have different blood types." Genis answered.

Wait a minute. That confuses me. In the game, they mentioned something about Half-elves and elves having different blood types than humans, but that doesn't explain anything at all. I think I'm beginning to sympathize with Lloyd now.

"That doesn't make sense to me. How does having a different blood type have anything to do with the type of mana in a person's body?" I asked, now officially curious. I could hear quiet writing in my head. Apparently, Trill was curious too, and was taking notes. It feels slightly satisfying to know that not even he has all the answers.

"Well, it's kinda hard to explain. Human beings are born with a blood that is not entirely in tune with nature. Since nature is basically where mana exists, human beings receive a different type of mana that they are capable of wielding. Half-elves like me and Raine have blood that is acutely tuned to nature. This allows us to wield the different types of mana unlike human beings can. We can even sense the mana of other beings as well. It helps when we…never mind." Genis ended sadly, looking at the ground. One could tell he was thinking of the times when he and Raine have been oppressed because of their race.

This is getting ridiculous. These guys couldn't have honestly been oppressed for this long, could they have?

"Genis, it's alright. You don't have to say it if you don't want to. Anyway, you were explaining what mana is exactly right?" I said, making sure to change the subject so the little guy doesn't get depressed. His face erased his sad expression and replaced it with a grateful one, lightening the mood a little.

"Yeah, I was. Anyway, thanks to our special blood type, we have access to a different type of mana, allowing us to easily cast magic. The same can be said of Elves. Humans can't because they have a different type of mana than we do.

I nodded my head, taking the information in slowly. "So let me get this straight. Mana comes from nature, as positive energy from living beings, which is passed on to other beings. Is that all?

Genis nodded his head and smiled. "Yep, that's right. You take this up pretty quickly. I tried explaining it to Lloyd, but all he got was a headache according to him."

I laughed a little bit at this, picturing Lloyd taking aspirins after hearing a lecture from Genis and Raine. Then, another thought occurred to me. Genis had said positive energy was used for mana. What about negative energy? What does it do?

"Hey, Genis. You said positive energy was used for mana, right?" I waited for him to nod. "Well, what about negative energy? What does it do?"

Then something strange happened. The happy expression that Genis wore quickly faded into one of fear. He audibly gulped and stuttered out, "Ne-Negative energy? Wh-why would you want to know about that?" Okay, this is creepy. Genis is acting like his sister just found a way to slap him harder or something. What the hell?

"Because you only talked about positive energy. You didn't explain about negative energy." I stated calmly. Either this negative energy is really freaking awesome or really freaking evil. Probably the latter, but who knows or even cares for that matter?

Genis looked around quickly before continuing in a small whisper. I had to lean forward to catch what he said. "The reason I didn't tell you about negative energy is because it's a dark energy. It's the opposite of mana, equal to it, except in the aspect of what it does to living beings. A living being is equally balanced when it comes to positive and negative energy. Usually, the being is in an area with positive energy, allowing the positive energy to be dominant over the negative." Genis stopped and looked around again to make sure no one else was listening, as if mentioning what he was about to say would bring an evil being to life or something.

He stopped looking and continued. "But if that being is in an area of negative energy, then the negative side takes over, turning the creature into an evil being." He shuddered when he stopped, as if a breeze had blown to chill him.

I wasn't entirely sure as to why he was acting all scared. Maybe Raine told him a bedtime story when he was younger that got etched into his memory that dealt with negative energy. I don't know. I pressed on. "Genis, you sound like as if you saying this will curse you or something. Calm down, would you?"

Genis leaned forward more and whispered even quieter "Have you ever heard of the legend of the Dark One?" Shaking my head, he continued. "He was a being that was immersed in negative energy. Some say that he's the actual source of the world's negative energy. There are stories about him I've heard that may sound ridiculous to you, but they seem true. Stories about how he killed armies that dared to challenge him, about how ruthless he was. He even had a name that still exists today." Genis stopped as if to wait for me to ask.

I nodded my head and he continued. "The name that the Dark One was given was Erebus. It means 'God of Darkness'. And for good reason. It was said that he was one of the only beings in existence that had a complete mastery over the powers of Darkness. There's proof he existed too. For example, there's a temple in the Asgard region that was once used to worship him and make sacrifices so that the people wouldn't be harmed. The temple still stands today, though no one goes to it anymore. Everyone believes it's haunted by his spirit."

I leaned back taking all this in. It sounded far-fetched to me. For a being that powerful to exist, it sounds like someone who would make Nebilim look like a sissy. Still, considering that something like the Eternal Sword and Mithos to exist, what he says might be true. I was about to speak when I hear Lloyd rouse from his sleep. Yawning, he looked back at us and said sleepily "Hey guys. Ready to go?"

He got up and stretched his arms, extending them towards the sky. Looking back at us, he catches Genis' expression of fear and looks at me. "What's with Genis? He looks like he just saw Raine with a flamethrower or something?" He asked.

I considered telling Lloyd what we talked about, but decided against it. I didn't want the whole world to be learning about me and what I do. "It's nothing. We were just talking is all and he got to thinking about his sister. Right, Genis?" I reply, looking at Genis, quickly winking an eye to give him the message.

Genis nodded and smiled at Lloyd. "Yeah, it's nothing to worry about. We should be on our way now." He said, picking up his satchel and getting off his rock. I mentally sighed with relief, glad that I had a good friend in this crazy place. I picked up my bag and we moved onward. I did however have one last thought as we left the clearing.

'How the hell does Lloyd know what a flame-thrower is, and how does he associate her with one?'

* * *

One day later

Note to self: When Trill appears next time, kick him in the groin, repeatedly, with Iron bound boots, followed with a few shell-bullets as well.

My wonderful new attitude with Trill is partially due to us currently crossing the desert right now. We had gotten here after stopping at the inn to rest for the night. We had a good meal and a decent night's sleep, so you'd think I'd be alright with crossing the desert, wouldn't you?

If you do, then I'm afraid that you are DEAD WRONG! Sorry, shouldn't get mad at you. What could you do, laugh at my misery of crossing a desert on foot?

For one thing, the heat was unbearable. I had to take off my jacket and wrap it around me like when you were in second grade around your waist, you know? Looking ahead of me, Genis seemed better off with only a t-shirt and shorts on, yet I could tell he was fatigued by the long walk. Lloyd was obviously overheating; every few seconds he pulls on his collar and I swear that steam comes off his body. So as you can see, we're not in the best of positions right now.

Then there came the scorpions. All they were was just kindling to add to the fire, no pun intended. There was about five of them that tried to assault us, but we easily took them out, mainly because I went into anger frenzy after one of them scratched my shirt. Mind you, I like my clothes the way they are. Afterwards, we went on our way, only to be stopped again by bandits who thought we were some lost travelers. Does someone have a grudge against us or something, aside from the desians and the Iselia villagers?

When we came across them, they tried to surround us. It partially worked with them properly covering the area. However, there were only three of them, leaving one for each of us to handle on our own if needed. There was silence a moment before one of the thieves, supposedly the leader, spoke aloud, saying "Going somewhere? You're in our territory so if you have any money, I suggest you hand it over."

I wasn't in the mood to be nice, so I replied for Lloyd who was about to speak. "I have an idea. How about you let us go, and we won't kick your asses for bothering us. That way, it works out for all of us, and no one gets hurt." See, I'm trying to be nice to them. Not cocky, nice.

The leader laughed and said "You beat us? Yeah right, and I can summon Efreet. Since you won't cooperate nicely like we asked, we'll just have to take your money by force. Let's get'em, boys." They each drew out their long knives and took a stance I assumed was a fighting stance. I pulled out my gauntlets and said quietly to myself "Well, I did try to be nice just the same." Let's say that I took out some of my rage on these guys, and we'll leave it at that. Please don't watch as I repeatedly kick my guy in the groin when I knocked him down, probably smashing his crown Jewels.

A few minutes later, and it was over. The bandits were lying on the ground, moaning in pain. Oh, wait a minute, that's my guy, holding his crotch. My bad. As we walked away, I noticed the leader, whom Lloyd had taken out, had a slightly bulging pouch on his hip. I quickly walked over to it and picked it off him. Not like he needs it, now does he?

"Sorry pal," I said as we walked away, "You mess with the best, and you fall like all the rest." (What, I can't brag that we kicked their butts? Just be quiet and read!)

Once the whole fight adrenaline had settled down, I felt pretty calm afterwards. I even lost my anger at Trill a little for putting us out here without a ride. Even a camel would have been nice, but we're stuck with only our feet to use. Great job Trill. Has anyone figured out I hate deserts yet?

We had been walking again a few minutes after the incident with the bandits, and I could feel my anger returning with each step. It's as if each little dosage of heat I got from the sand was fuel for it.

Step. 'Stupid heat'

Step. 'Stupid desert'

Step. 'Stupid Trill'

All this brought us to where we are now, still crossing the desert trying to catch up with Colette and the others. I was bored, partially due to the consistent image of only sand and rocks to look at, and also due to the silence that accompanied us. No one was saying anything, as if saying something would cause the temperature to go up 10 degrees. Now if Genis cast a spell to make the temperature go up, then it would make sense. Otherwise, everyone's just too tired to talk. I decided to break the silence by asking the most annoying question on a trip such as this: "Are we there yet?"

Genis turned to look at me. "What'd you say?" He asked.

I wiped the sweat off my brow and repeated my question. "I said, are we there yet?"

Genis shook his head and replied "No, we're not. We should be close though."

I groaned aloud to express my displeasure at this statement. I threw my hands arms up in frustration when I caught a whiff of something. I quickly checked myself to confirm whether or not it was me. Yep, it was official. I needed to wash up, bad. I don't care if I have to jump inside that stinking Oasis at the town to do it; I just want to clean up, dammit! Okay, maybe the whole Oasis jumping thing is a little crazy, but for that, I blame the heat and my current unseemliness.

I decided to use the time between now and when we got to Triet to think about just random things so as to keep me from being bored. Hmm, I still remember that whole lesson that Genis said he was going to teach me. We only got to cover the basics of mana before Lloyd woke up and had us get moving. Maybe I should ask him about it now.

"Hey Genis, why don't you tell me more about casting spells now?" I called out to him. He looked at me a moment before replying "I'd like to, but I can't think straight right now. Once we get to Triet, I can tell you more there."

Darn. Spoilsport, ruin my blatant attempt at breaking the boredom, why don't you? I retreated back into my place and tried to think of something else. Hmm, I could talk to Trill, but he might not have anything to say either. Oh well, nothing ventured, nothing gained right? 'Hey, Trill. You there?'

_What do you want now?_

'I was just wondering if there is anything you wanted to tell me.'

_No, not really. Nothing to worry about right now, just carry on._

'Trill, the last time you said that, I nearly got hacked in two. I'm having a little trouble believing you.'

_Really, it's nothing to worry about, I'm completely honest here._

'Alright, I'll take your word for it.'

_Yeah, he's perfectly fine._

'Who's perfectly fine?'

_No one, no one at all._ Then he cut off the connection. AGGHH! I'm still bored!

* * *

We finally arrived in Triet, covered in sand and dust, ready to just quit and go home. Of course, that meant going through the desert again, and that's not an option. We checked into the inn to reserve a room and proceeded outside to look around. I decided to go to the market to shop for anything we might need. Lloyd went with Genis to go seek information as to where our friends were.

I walked around the marketplace and noticed everyone staring at me. I guess that they aren't used to seeing someone dressed like me. Most people as far as I can see were wearing turbans and other desert clothing…stuff. Anyways, I'm walking around when I see a weapon's shop. It had the usual weaponry, the swords and the…Frisbees? What the hell?

I walk up to it and get a better look. Yep, they're Frisbees all right. How someone can die from a Frisbee I don't know, but it works somehow. I was about to walk off when I saw a pair of gauntlets lying on a display table. I picked them up and saw that they were pretty new. They had something that looked like bumps on the knuckles. I looked around for the salesperson, and found him in the back, getting a drink of water.

"Hey, excuse me!" I called out. "How much for these gauntlets?"

The shopkeeper walked up and had a look at them. "Those? Those are the stud gauntlets. They've got refined metal around the knuckles to provide more damage on impact. They're worth 500 gald." He then took a swig of water and looked at me.

I felt my mouth open of its own accord. "Fa…fa…five, hundred?" I said, gaping at the price. I bet I don't even have 300 gald! Opening my pouch, I just hold it out to the man and ask him to sort it out himself. He opens it and sorts through it, looks at me, and says "What a coincidence. There's just enough in here to cover it. I'll just take this bag off your hands then." He started to walk away when I heard Lloyd's voice say "Hold on a minute!"

I turned to see Lloyd and Genis walk up to the stand. "That bag had at least 2,000 gald in it! Give him his change back!"

I turned around in rage at the shopkeeper. I'm pissed off now. "Give my money, before I kick your ass, NOW!" He quickly picked out a few coins and gave back the bag in a hurried manner. "Th-There, that's all there is, I swear!" the man said, eager to get away.

A few minutes later, we were walking back to the inn, new equipment in hand. Lloyd had gone ahead and bought the Knight's sabers, and Genis had bought his new Kendama as well. We were about to turn in at the inn when Lloyd stopped walking. For Lloyd to openly ignore the chance for sleep, means we've got trouble.

"What is it?" I asked eager to wash up and get some rest. I have had enough deserts today and am ready to hit the hay. And I wasn't about to let Lloyd stop me from getting there.

Lloyd merely pointed towards the wall on the side of the inn. I followed his finger with my gaze and saw it pointed towards what looked like the town notice board. There was random papers nailed to it, but what caught my attention were the new posters that were applied there.

They each had a picture of us, sort of like those jail cell pictures you see when someone's arrested, except…they were horribly drawn. I walked toward them and saw mine. Mine showed me, except with an evil grin, but that wasn't what stood out. They had me having a HUGE nose! My pride was injured by this picture. I quickly ripped it off and stomped it into the ground, muttering "I don't have a big nose."

"Hey, get away from those!" a voice rang out. I looked back to see the townspeople running away, giving way for three desians to walk forward. "You can't just do as you please here! We had our best artists draw those, and post them there in every single town! You guys are gonna get hurt now, and then we'll take you to Lord Forcystus!"

I could feel my eyebrow twitching as he said this. I pulled out my gauntlets and started to walk forward away from the board. I put them on before I spoke. "You're best artists drew those?" I asked quietly. I cracked my knuckles as I walked.

Lloyd stepped beside me as I walked. "Tren, wait a minute. You can't take those guys on by yourself, you'll get hurt!" I ignored him and kept walking. No one, absolutely no one, gets away with confusing my face with that piece of shit they call artwork.

The desians stepped back after seeing me start to walk forward. One of them, I guess the leader, stepped forward and said "You're criminal #0075 aren't you?"

I lifted my eyes up to look at them. "And if I am?"

The Desian smiled under his helmet and said "I'm afraid you're going to have to come with us." He and his friends pulled out their whips. (Oh, the poor fools. They have no idea what's about to happen.)

I stopped walking and took a stance. I was about to launch myself when I heard a voice in my head say "**_Do it._**" Okay, I'm hearing voices in my head aside from Trill. Weird. Oh well, time to kick ass.

The first guy charged at me and cracked his whip, aiming for my arm. I see it coming, but in slow-motion. My eyes widen at this. Since when in the hell do I have matrix powers? Last I checked, this was Tales of Symphonia, not "The Matrix Reloaded"! I'm not Neo, dammit! Moving back to the battle.

I grab the whip, much to the surprise of everyone, and jerk it in my direction. This causes the holder of the whip to be thrown forward towards me. I cocked my fist back and connected with his stomach. He choked and fell to the ground unconscious. Everyone gasped at this, and I looked back up at the remaining two. "Next." I say, ready to take them on. As you can see, no one insults the nose.

The next two guys charged forward, apparently eager to end this quickly. I charged forward as well, going into slow-motion again. Note to self: ask Trill what the hell is going on here, because I really want to learn how to wield this. I put my arms out to my sides to clothesline them. The one on my left saw it coming and ducked just in time. The other wasn't so luck as I hit him full on with a stiff arm. He fell to the ground, leaving his partner alone to fight me.

He put up his whip and pulled out his sword. I could see his mouth under the protection of his helmet. His teeth were gritted and one could tell he was nervous. He charged forward and swung it down in a horizontal slash. I caught it on my arm and held it in place. He gasped when I did this; apparently, desians aren't used to having their butts whooped. I cocked my other fist back and cried out "Shell Bullet!" My fist connected with his helmet, causing a loud "POOONNNG!" noise to ring out. The guy wobbled back, showing a large dent in his helmet. I kinda grimaced at this; I didn't think I had hit him that hard. He fell to the ground, ending the clash.

I turned to face Lloyd and Genis, a satisfied expression on my face. I looked at them to see they're mouths agape. "What, you guys haven't seen-" I was cut off by a sudden weakness I felt in my body. My whole body was sore and aching, as if I was a crash-test dummy. I fell to the ground amid cries of "Tren! Wake up! Tr-BZZZZZZt" Lloyd's voice was cut off by the sound of something like electricity. I would have tried to get up, but I gave in to fatigue and fell to darkness.

* * *

Author's notes: That was my longest chapter yet! Quite the cliffhanger! What will happen to Tren now that he's knocked out? Keep reading and find out! Read and Review! 


	10. Innocence Lost

Author's notes: Hello, and welcome back to this story. I thank you if you are one of the faithful readers of my story, even though it's a self-insert. I appreciate your time spent here.

Lloyd: You do realize that sounded like one of those operators who make you wait on the telephone, don't you?

Me: Sh-shut up. Just do the disclaimer!

Lloyd: Raenef the 6th does not own Tales of Symphonia or any of its characters. Namco does.

Me: On with the show!

* * *

"So this kid is the one Yuan wanted to see?"

"Yeah, something about an interrogation or something similar to that. He did a pretty bad job on those Desian scouts we saw. They couldn't touch him for some reason. Then he just simply fell over."

"What a weakling. He must be pathetic if he just fell over like that. I bet I could take him easily."

I'm hearing voices again. Great. And they're not Trill, as far as I can tell. Even better. I start to open my eyes after hearing them, so as to get a clue as to where I am right now.

As I start to move, my body suddenly gives out, and I fall back down flat on my stomach. Ouch. Why does my body hurt so much? I don't remember lifting any weights or getting hit. Hell, I don't even remember getting here, for Pete's sake! I close my eyes and wait for the pain to settle. The voices start talking again.

"Look, he can't even get up. How pathetic. I don't see why Lord Yuan wants to see this kid. I say just kill him and get on with our lives."

Kill me? What the hell did I do?! I don't need to be killed! Just let me go! I'm a kid, why do I need to be killed?!

"Whatever you think doesn't matter. What Lord Yuan or Lord Botta says goes, so deal with it. Come on, let's go. Our shift's up anyway." The voices fade away. Good. Let them leave, so I can be at peace.

Ugh…my head is killing me. Where am I? Last I checked, I was supposed to be in bed, getting ready for summer break with Mithos. Not being thrown in some cold-floored dungeon. Then my memories start to come back.

I was in Symphonia. Well, technically it was Sylvarant. I was with Lloyd and Genis. We were in Triet, and people were looking for us. The Desians, wasn't it? But, why was I here and in pain? Then another memory came along.

I was…fighting them. I was kicking butt at first, and then I suddenly got tired all of a sudden. What happened? I was moving all fast and they were all slow, and then I just fall down flat. Lloyd fell soon afterwards, and then I just fell unconscious. That must have looked weak.

It was strange fighting like that. It was like I was fighting with a power that was not my own, like someone was controlling me. Whatever. Right now, I need to focus on getting up and getting out of here. I don't think I want to stay in jail forever.

I open my eyes again to get a better view of my area. The floor was metal, so that explains the cold. Looking up, I see what I guess somehow constitutes for a jail cell. There was a bed to my left, but it didn't have any covers, only a pillow. On my right, there was a sink with a mirror above it. What probably was the most troubling was the big row of bars holding me here, situated right in front of me and blocking my escape.

Well, this sucks. I can't leave, I've got a killer headache, my whole body hurts, and I'm supposed to be interrogated by Yuan…wait a second.

Yuan is that blue-haired half-elf that's like 4000 years old. And he's the leader of the Renegades. I don't think I can beat him. I could probably fight him for a few seconds, then I'd probably get my butt whooped. I should probably leave before that happens.

_Tren, you awake now?_

'Hello Trill. Care to explain why the HELL I am in pain right now?'

_Well, it was because of that fight earlier. Your body couldn't stand moving that quickly, so it just quit for a little while._

'Okay. Can you maybe explain how I exactly did that?'

_Not really. That was something unexpected, so I don't know what caused it. For right now, I'd focus on getting out of there. I don't think you'd want to remain in that cell for very long, now do you?_

'I'd think that was obvious.' I try to get up, but my body throbs again, making me lay back down. 'Trill, I can't get up. How long is this supposed to last?'

_Hmm…I'm not sure. Try to lie still for a little while, and then try to get up again._

'Okay, so be lazy. That's simple enough, right?' I lie back down on the ground and decide to rest.

This is a fine mess I've gotten myself into. One minute I'm enjoying my time here, kicking a few monsters and peoples butts, and having fun with the characters. The next, I'm in a jail cell waiting to be interrogated by Yuan and I'm in pain.

Just lovely.

Looking back, I think about all the fights I've had before. I've fought against Vidarr, the desians, and all the other creatures in the world, and I've easily beaten them. But this is different now. Yuan is a Seraphim, one of the elite warriors. I don't even want to think of how he could easily beat me.

'Um, Trill? Are…Are you still there?'

_Yeah, what's up? Something on your mind?_

'You could say that. It's uh… it's kinda hard to explain.

_Are you worried about meeting Yuan?_

'How'd you know?'

_I can read you're thoughts, remember? I can tell you're worried about fighting him. Did you ever think it might not come to that?_

'What do you mean?'

_What I mean is, is that once you escape, I can try to guide you out of there if you'd prefer. _

'That would be nice. But isn't Lloyd supposed to run into Yuan the very first time they meet?'

_Hmm, you're right. That complicates things a little. Tell me, are you scared of facing him alone?_

'Well, yeah. I mean, the first time I played the game; it took me two tries to beat him. The first time, he nearly massacred my team. The second time, I only won because I knew what to expect from him.'

_What happened to your confident side? The Tren I met was sure of himself and ready to fight. Now I'm looking at you and you seem unsure of you're abilities._

'It's not that I'm unsure of my abilities. It's just…' I faded off there. Why was I afraid? It's simple. I was fighting as Lloyd in the game; it wasn't actually me doing the fighting. Now, it's me doing the fighting, and I can't be sure if I can fight him and beat him.

'Look, just forget it for now. Whatever happens will happen. Do you think I can move now?' I wanted to leave the subject now. It was making me feel depressed, and I don't like being depressed.

_Go ahead and try. Don't worry. Maybe you won't run into him at all._

I start to stand up and brace myself for any pain. Not feeling any, I silently thank god for there not being any. Standing up to my full height, I notice that I've still got my gauntlets on. Sweet! I was worried I'd have to get these back. Looking at the bars in front of me, I wonder if maybe I can break them with a shell bullet.

'Trill? Can I break the bars with a Shell Bullet?'

_Hmm. I think so. If it doesn't the first time, it may take a couple of shots to break it. _

'All right, I'll give it a shot.' I take a few steps back to make sure to put some distance between me and the door. If I run at it, the extra momentum should help me to break them down. I cock my fist back and prepare the technique when a thought occurred to me: Wouldn't me punching metal hurt my hand?

'Trill, won't I hurt my hand if I hit the bars?'

_Not if you hit it the right way._

'Oh, that helps.' I look closer at the bars. There's no rust on them and no indentions. Crap. That means that there aren't any weak points on the bars. Guess I'll have to aim for the good, old-fashioned center. I cock my right fist back and say quietly "Shell bullet." My fist gets that feeling of air around it again as I'm propelled towards the bars. 2 seconds later my fist connects with the bars and a loud CLANG sound.

It is only after a few seconds that the realization of my fist hitting metal reaches my brain. Hello, pain!

I recoil back and stifle my urge to scream by gritting my teeth together. The last thing I need right now is two renegades seeing me trying to escape. My right hand is throbbing right now, which proves I hit it in the wrong spot. Ouch, ouch, ouch! Damn, that smarts!

A few minutes later, my hand finally cools down. Oh, thank god! I walk back up to the bars to see if any mark was made. Looking closely, I can see an indentation on the bars, but only a small one. This definitely sucks.

'Trill, do you have any better ideas? Cause I don't think this one is going to work that well. Unless you want me to get a broken hand.'

_Okay, you might have a point there. Look around the bars, maybe there's a control for the door somewhere._

I walk forward while holding my hand softly, making sure not to put it through more abuse. Looking through the bars and to my right, I can't really see anything that looks relatively like a computer. However, looking to the left, I can see what looks like a small module right beside the bars. Jackpot!

I walk up to it and notice it's operated by a simple lever. Funny, you think the security system for this thing would be more complicated. I try to reach out for it, but my hand falls short. Crap. Curse you puberty, and you're cruelness in making my arms short!

'Trill, I can't reach it. What now?' He better have a good answer, or else I'm stuck.

_Is there anything in the cell that you can use to lengthen your grip?_

I look back around the cell. The only thing that isn't basically bolted down is the pillow.

'There's only the pillow. Do you want me to use that?' He can't be serious.

_If that's the only thing, then yep, you have to._ Dammit

I pick up the pillow and try to figure out a way to use it to reach the lever. Maybe throw it at the lever? But then if I miss, I can't pick it up again. Maybe take the pillowcase and make it into a makeshift whip?

_I'd go with the whip idea._

I sigh, realizing just how pathetic this seems. I'm using a pillowcase to break out of jail. Oh, well. Better that than a broken hand. I take the pillow out of the case and start twisting the case until it looks like a tightly bound rope.

I stick my hand back out of the bars and get a better look at the lever. I guess I could reach it with the makeshift whip. I lash out at it and the pillowcase/whip wraps around it. Success!

Switching hands, I start to pull the lever up from its down position. It moves slowly at first, with jerking motions. Either this thing needs some oil, or I'm weak! Probably the former. It finally reaches the top, and along with it, up goes the bars. Sweet freedom! Now, if only I could find an exit that easily.

I walk out of the jail cell to get a better look at my surroundings. The area around me looks different than the jail cell area Lloyd was put in, as far as I can remember. Lloyd's area was sort of a pale blue coloring to it; mine was red-tinted. There was no security desk by the cells, only a hallway with a door at the end of it. This is certainly new to me.

'Uh, Trill? This is certainly not the renegade base as far as I can tell. Last I checked, Yuan's favorite color was blue, wasn't it?'

_You're right. Looks like you got taken to a different area than Lloyd was. I imagine if Lloyd had been the one to put up that fight like you did, it's likely he would have been put here as well. For now, just try to stay out of trouble._

I started walking down the hallway after Trill's little explanation. As I walked, I glimpsed at the other cells as I passed them. Well, I couldn't really see anything. It was completely dark inside of them; I couldn't even make out any shapes. I wonder just who would be placed out here.

Reaching the door, it automatically opened with a SWOOSH sound, revealing two guards standing on the other side. Oh, shit. So much for secrecy.

We stood there a moment, me standing there looking between the two guards, and the two guards both focused on me. Neither of them said anything as they stood there, blocking the path. I didn't move, worried that if I did, they might attack me. A moment later, the one on my left finally said "Going somewhere?"

I thought for a moment. Either reply smartly and get my ass whooped, or don't say anything and get my ass whooped. Decisions, decisions.

"Well, I was planning to leave. If you'd be so kind to move, I'll leave without beating you two up." I said calmly, hoping they couldn't hear my fear. My body was still kind of weak from before, and my right hand wasn't exactly in good shape either. This was a bad situation to be in.

"Humph. If you honestly want to leave, you'll have to get past us. Do you think you can do that kid?" The one on my right said, pulling out a whip. He had a grin on his face, a grin that oozed with evil. This is definitely bad.

I took a step back and considered my options. On one hand, I could try to escape without fighting them, and risk alerting the other guards. I wouldn't get hurt, but it's likely I'd be outnumbered.

On the other, I can beat these two and then escape, which would allow me to sneak without worry of other guards. The only problem is that I risk getting injured by fighting them, and being injured doesn't settle well with me. Guess I'll have to fight.

"All right. If I have to, then I will." I said quietly, and prepared myself as they charged at me. One cracked his whip at me, aiming for my leg. I quickly sidestepped, only to get hit by the other one on my arm. The whip tightened around my bicep, holding me in place. The other desian quickly regained his footing and copied the first's actions, this time on my other arm.

Both held me in place firmly, neither giving in. I stood there a moment, frantically thinking of what to do. Wait a minute, they're just standing there. If they aren't moving, then I can use this to my advantage. I lifted my hands up and gripped the ropes of the whip in my hands. Both desians heads perked at this. Guess they're dumber than they look.

Bringing my hands together and across and throwing my weight into it, both desians end up lifted off the ground and into each other, crashing into each other and landing in a pile on the ground. Both whips fell to the ground as I put my arms to my side, slightly exhausted by the effort. Those whips hurt my arm a little when they made contact, and throwing them took quite a lot of energy. I should probably leave before they get up.

Jumping over them, I quickly went out the door and started running as I heard the door shut behind me. I need to find my way out of here, NOW.

'Trill, you better know where you're going. I don't think I can keep this up much longer. I'm getting tired pretty quickly, and I don't want to fight anymore.'

_All right, I'll try to guide you out. I'll warn you now, there's no map of this place, so I can't guarantee you'll get out immediately. I'll try my best though._

I soon came across a four-way intersection, meaning I only had a one out of three chance of getting out of here properly, and a two out of three chance of going the wrong way. Gotta love that luck, it comes right back to bite you.

_All right, turn right here._

I turned right and kept running, only stopping once I reached the doors and letting them open, then resuming my escape. As far as I could tell, I wasn't getting anywhere. The hallways were still red, meaning this place was bigger than I first thought, or I've gone the wrong way. I really, **really** hope it's the former.

After running for so long, I finally had to slow to a walk. My lungs felt like they were on fire, I could hardly breathe. My legs were getting sore too; I couldn't even jog now, let alone run. I finally went through the next door, and to my sweet relief, the hallway had changed colors. It was now the pale blue I was familiar with, meaning I had gone the right way. Thank you God.

I noticed it was also cooler in here than back there. Maybe they try to use the heat to exhaust the prisoners, perhaps? Maybe that's why I had that headache earlier; it seems to be gone now. My body however, was still feeling some fatigue. I need to see Raine when this is over, maybe she'll know what to do.

I resumed my walk, taking it easy so that my body might have a chance to rest. I wonder how Lloyd's doing right now. I wonder if he's gotten out of his cell yet and was trying to escape as well. He probably has a better chance than me. I hope Genis is alright, too. Last I saw, he was scared for his life back in Triet.

_Tren, I'm afraid we've got a problem. A big one._

Oh great, more good news. 'What is it?'

_You're mana level is very low. That thing you did earlier, moving so fast. It's what drained you. That's why you're body is in so much pain, it doesn't have hardly any energy supporting it. You've got to rest soon or else you might fall unconscious from mana exhaustion._

'Great. So I basically can't even use my techniques anymore now?'

_You can use the Shell Bullet, but I estimate it to be only twice. After the second time, it's likely you'll fall unconscious right afterwards._

Bloody wonderful. Now I can't even fight as well as I used to. It's just one thing after another today. 'Alright, got it. Don't fight unless necessary?'

_That's probably best for now._

'Alright. I'll keep that in mind.' I trudged onwards, only it felt even slower now, like I've gotten all fast again like before. I **really **need to see Raine soon. My thoughts are interrupted again as I hear two guards ahead of me. Is someone honestly trying to get me killed today or something?

I look around quickly, trying to find a door to escape through. Seeing one on my left, I quickly rush through it before anyone can see me. I hear the two guards pass by the door. I slump to my knees in exhaustion. Today is just too much!

"And just who the hell are you supposed to be?" a voice said behind me. A very familiar voice, one that made me curse myself for not looking to see who was in here before just rushing in. I turn behind me slowly, praying that God just listen to me once in my life and let it not be who I think it is. Unfortunately, as we all know, God doesn't exactly just up and listen every time we complain about something. (No offense to Christians whatsoever, since I am one myself.)

Behind me stood a figure with aqua-blue hair, clothed in a dark blue-black armor with red trimmings, which was hid underneath a cloak. Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome Yuan, the leader of the Renegades.

"I uh…I was just uh…" I stammered, unable to think of words. I was in fear for my life right now. I was in no condition to fight at all, or even defend myself, and I go and just waltz right into Yuan's office. I am officially screwed over now folks.

"Well, well. The prisoner who escaped the high-security jail area. I must give you some credit for making it this far. However, it was a foolish mistake to come into here. Very foolish, indeed." He said with a murderous undertone. He was smirking at me. I guess he knew that I was exhausted.

"What do you want with me?" I asked shakily, trying to scoot my way against the wall so as to put some distance between me and him. What did I do to deserve this? Sure I wasn't the most religious guy or the nicest guy in the world, but that doesn't mean I deserve to get killed!

"Simple. You're exsphere is what I want. If you give it to me, I just might consider not killing you. " Yuan replied, not moving from his spot, but still staring at me with his cold eyes. Those eyes are what scare me the most. They're so unemotional. I bet he could easily kill me and not even care.

"What do you want with my exsphere? What's so special about it?" I asked quietly, feeling a little bit of my strength starting to return. That's right, Tren. Just keep him talking.

"You're exsphere is most peculiar to me. It radiates a strange aura, one that I am not familiar with. I need to investigate it to see if I can use it. Especially that one ability you used back in Triet." Yuan answered.

Is he referring to that speed I used earlier? How did he know about that? "How did you know about that?" I whispered hoarsely, scooting back again, feeling myself bump against the wall. Okay, I guess I can't move anymore. I'm feeling a little stronger now, but only a little bit. I could probably only fight for a few seconds, and then I'd be out again.

"I know about it because I've been watching you. I've been watching you and you're little group ever since you ran into Botta back in Iselia. I watched you fight Vidarr, my soldiers, as well as the soldiers in Triet you fought earlier today. And you know what I noticed?" Yuan said menacingly, taking a step forward. I gulped, trying to force back the lump forming in my throat.

He kneeled down so his eyes were on level with mine. "You're weak." He said simply. What? What is he talking about? I'm not weak! If I was at my full strength, I bet I could at least give Lloyd a run for his money!

"What do you mean?" I asked quietly, my anger burning at his words.

"It's simple. When you fought Vidarr, it wasn't you who struck the killing blow, it was Kratos. When you fought against my soldiers in Triet, you only won because of the power of your exsphere, which seems to come with a heavy price, judging by how weak you are now." He stopped as if waiting for me to say something.

My head was reeling. He couldn't be right, could he? Could I really be weak like he says I am? No, he can't be right. Even if I didn't strike down Vidarr like Kratos did, I could still be considered strong. When I used that power that made me go so fast wasn't I strong then too?

"No, you're wrong." I said, a small smile gracing my face. I started to stand up as I spoke. "I'm not weak like you say. I managed to get this far, and that has to stand for something." I finally reached my full height, stopping an inch or two short of Yuan. His face was different now, with his smirk instead replaced with a tout line. This made me smile a little more. "And if you get in my way, I will fight you." I finished, taking a stance to back up what I said. I could care less who he was now. Nobody tells me I'm weak, not even someone like Yuan.

Yuan just shrugged his shoulders as if it didn't matter to him. "Suit yourself." He said, throwing off his cloak as he spoke and drawing his blade from behind his back. "If I need to beat you to get that exsphere, then so be it." He finished with a smirk again. He suddenly vanished out of sight, leaving me to wonder where he went.

A split-second later, I was answered with a strong blow against my back, making me roll forward from the impact. I gained control of the roll and landed back on my feet to see him vanish again. Not knowing where he would come from, I held my breath to try to hear his steps.

The hairs on the back of my neck suddenly jumped up, telling me something was about to happen, in a paranoid way. Since he attacked last time from behind, I instinctively ducked, which turned out to be a smart move on my part.

Yuan swung his blade forward, trying to hit where I was using the blunt side of his blade. Thinking fast, I cocked my left hand back and shouted "Shell Bullet!" I lurched forward and was thrown right at Yuan. I thought I had him, but he was quicker than I imagined.

He stuck his blade forward and caught my fist on the blunt side of it. I heard something crack and at first thought I might have somehow damaged his weapon. But when he pulled back, I suddenly felt pain shoot throughout my hand. Lifting it up, I tried to flex it and realized my wrist was shot. Trying to move it only made my hand pulse, sending waves of pain through my body.

Just great, now I can't use one of my hands. I'm screwed for sure.

I stood there a moment, trying to get my bearings, when Yuan disappeared again. I tried to move, but I was too slow again. He struck me again, this time with greater force. I was launched forward and rammed into the wall. I fell back to the ground in pain and landed on my back. I tried to get back up, but I immediately felt dizzy. Suddenly, where there was one Yuan was suddenly two. Wait, there aren't two Yuans. That's impossible.

As I lay back on the ground, I could feel my consciousness ebbing away. I tried to get my body to move, to try to escape, but it was no good. My hand was now throbbing, and the pain from it was clouding my mind.

'Trill, please…help me… please…' I pleaded silently to the spirit, my last hope for my life. My last sight was Yuan approaching forward before I once again gave way to darkness. As my sight faded, I could faintly hear the door opening and someone's voice. It…sounded familiar. Lloyd? Then, nothing…

* * *

I awakened to the sound of a door shutting. I still had my eyes shut, not wanting to see the last image before I fell unconscious. I was afraid to open my eyes and see Yuan standing there, ready to strike the final blow. I started to shiver when a hand was placed upon my own.

"It's all right now. You're safe." A voice said, belonging to a woman. It sounded familiar too. Someone from Iselia that I met before. Who was it? I opened my eyes to see Professor Raine standing in front of me, with one of her hands over my shaking ones. I was surprised to see my hands moving again. My left had been bandaged up, giving it a stiff feeling. I tried to flex it, but it barely moved before pain pulsed again.

I looked around slowly, trying to figure out where I was. I was lying on top of a bed, a soft one at that. It was certainly more comfortable than Lloyd's. I see a window showing outside, which was now shrouded in night. Stars were lighting the sky, giving it a peaceful glow. The room I was in seemed to be constructed similar to that of the buildings in Triet. Am I in Triet again?

"Professor, what happened? How did I get here? Last I remember, I was fighting Yuan, and then nothing." I asked quickly, trying to figure out what had happened while I was out. Was Lloyd alright? Did he escape?

"It's all right, you can calm down. We're in Triet now, not the desian base." She answered calmly, noticing that I was using both of my hands as well as I had. "How is your hand now?" she asked quietly, checking the one that was bandaged up.

I flexed my left hand again. Just like before, pain flashed through me and faded when I stopped. "It still hurts. Not as much as before though." I replied, holding back the grimace the pain had made me want to show.

"Good. When we came across you, you're body was in a seriously bad state. You're mana was almost gone, and you're left wrist had been broken. I suggest you be careful with that hand, seeing as how you won't be using it for a little while. Also-" she was interrupted by the door opening, revealing Genis and Lloyd. They walked in, trailed behind by Colette. They looked at me with smiles on their faces.

"Tren, you're okay! I'm glad to see you're up!" Lloyd said happily.

Genis nodded his head and added "Yeah, we were worried when we found you in that room."

I smiled at this, glad to see my friends again. "What happened back there? I was fighting, and then I got knocked out." I asked, trying to sound calm to them. Inside, I felt like they should just leave. I didn't want them to see me like this, in this broken state.

"When I found you, you were lying on the floor, and that blue-haired guy was standing a few feet away from you. When he saw me, he put up his blade and fled. I thought he would have at least tried to fight me, but I guess he had other plans." Lloyd said, taking a seat in one of the chairs by the bed.

Genis picked up after Lloyd stopped. "I found Lloyd in there a few minutes later, fending off that Botta guy again. You know, the one who attacked the Martel Temple back in Iselia? Anyway, we fought him off and he fled too. Afterwards, we checked on you and we found you unconscious."

Colette then spoke, saying "When we saw you, we were worried that you were hurt. The professor healed your hand and Kratos and Lloyd carried you out of there to here. This then led up to you waking up now."

Great, just great. That must have looked really pathetic. Falling unconscious right before the first mini-boss fight, and in front of everyone no less! Dammit! I did my best not to show my fury with myself. "I'm sorry for worrying you. I thought I could take him, but my body was too weak at the time."

The professor nodded her head and said "That wasn't too smart on your part. If you risk yourself like that again, it's likely you're injuries will be more severe. You must be more careful when it comes to your mana, understand?"

I nodded my head and lay back on the bed. I was exhausted, both mentally and physically. How could I have been so foolish? Taking on Yuan alone like that? I could have been killed! KILLED! What the hell was I thinking?!

I closed my eyes and said quietly "If you guys don't mind, I'd like to get some sleep. It's been along day for me, and I'd like to rest." The group nodded their head and filed out. Genis was the last to go, and said "Good night" before shutting the door.

Once they left, I almost immediately broke down right there. Yuan was right. I was weak. No questions asked. How could I have been so…stupid?! I pounded my hands on the bed and lay there in silence. After all this, I almost feel like going home. Forget Symphonia, forget these people, I just want to go home!

But…if I go back, then what will happen? Trill said he erased my existence from Earth; he didn't say he could undo it, which meant if I went back now, I'd only cause more trouble for myself and Trill. I'd have no family or friends to turn to, and I'd be more alone than I am here. So I have to stay here.

But what good will it be if I can't even defend myself? When I fought against Yuan, I was lucky enough to escape with the injuries I had. If I had stayed…no, I won't think about that. It didn't happen, so I won't worry about it now. I need to get stronger than I am now. But how?

I pulled my legs toward me and placed my head atop my knees, my eyes blurred by tears of sadness. I want to prove that I'm strong. I have to do it. Otherwise, I'd never forgive myself. Lloyd and the others, they can easily grow strong. They're the main characters, people who've been here since the beginning. They've each had training at least at some point in their lives. Me, all I've got are a couple of hotshot moves and an ego to match. And right now, that ego is as bruised as I am.

The only question now is, how can I become strong as well? I'm not about to ask Kratos for help. As far as he's concerned, he just thinks of me as a little kid tagging along, trying to act like he's tough, when in fact he's not strong enough to even use his common sense!

I stopped my thoughts here, feeling something slide down my cheek. I stroke a bandaged finger across it, and my finger becomes slightly dampened. It was my tear, evidence of my sorrow and pain. I just sat there, and let it out. I didn't bawl out like a baby, but I sure cried like one. I couldn't help it, I was so depressed.

A few minutes later, I was done crying. I still sniffled occasionally, but now my eyes felt dried out due to their leakage of tears. I sat there, trying to get my thoughts together, when an idea struck my mind. 'Why don't I just…leave?'

Leave? Where would I go? I don't know where I could go from here. Lloyd and the others are going to the fire seal tomorrow, they're bound to. It's also likely that they'd leave me behind seeing as how I'm injured. But if I left…

I picked my head up slightly at this, my head forming a plan against my will. I could leave without them knowing I had, either before they leave for the seal, or afterwards. Before would probably be better, that way I could have an earlier start than they did. But the question remained, where would I go?

_If you chose to leave, you could go to the Ossa Trail. That'd be where I would go to first._

I looked to my side to see something that was truly a sight for sore eyes. Trill was sitting in one of the various seats in the room next to the bed. He was dressed in the same clothes as I saw him before, and he was smiling at me, though I could tell it was a bitter smile.

"Hey," I said groggily, due to a lack of use of my voice. I cleared my throat and continued. "It's good to see you, Trill."

He smiled a little more and said "It's good to see you too. I was worried about you when you were inside the base. I just wanted to say that…I'm sorry."

I peered over curiously at Trill, who now had his head down low on his chest, his hair covering his eyes. "What do you mean?" I asked.

"I'm sorry for all that's happened to you. I was being too careless inside the base; I should have made sure you got out. And because I didn't, you almost got killed." He said solemnly, keeping his head down.

"Hey, it's not your fault, Trill. Don't blame yourself like that. I put myself in that situation, not you. I should have known to run instead of fight, so don't worry about it." I consoled him quietly, wanting the old Trill back, the one that was happy.

"All right. I'll try to forget it for now. But I still need to make it up to you, okay?" He said with a new smile on his face.

I stretched out on the bed and relaxed a little more. Then I remembered what he had said before he appeared. "What were you talking about earlier, about the Ossa Trail?"

He also seemed to relax a little and replied "I was saying that if you want to leave, you should try to head to the Ossa Trail first. That way, you can stay ahead of the group and have some time to train."

"And how do you propose I would train? No offense, but you don't seem like a gym instructor to me or anything like that." I asked curiously.

"Well, let's just say that I have a plan for you. It'd be your choice if you want to take it up, so if you don't want to, that's fine by me. But if you want me to help, then I will." He replied.

I thought about it for a moment. It seemed like a good idea to me. I would get the training I need, and I would be able to keep an eye on the group. But, something was still nagging me in the back of my mind. "Trill? Do you think I should leave?" I asked meekly.

Trill closed his eyes and exhaled loudly, as if he was expecting this. "To be honest with you, it doesn't seem to be the best idea right now. To leave the group means risking being on your own, and that can be pretty dangerous." He stopped and his features softened. "But I know that you want to become stronger, and it's highly possible that you could if you chose to go with it. It's all up to you whether or not you want to do it."

I smiled; glad to have someone like Trill backing me up. Knowing he's helping me makes it better, and besides, if I become strong enough, I can rejoin back with the group and continue the journey.

"Right. Well, that settles it. I'm going to go the Ossa Trail and become stronger. I know I will, because I've got you to help me, so I won't necessarily be alone. When do we leave?" I said; ready to leave right then and now. If I'm going to train, I need to get started.

"I suggest if you're going to leave, that you leave now. It'd be better to get a head start on getting there, so that way you can have a good start on your training by the time the others catch up to where you are." Trill said, standing up and getting up out of his chair. He walked over to the window and stood there, gazing outside.

I nodded my head to myself and picked up my knapsack that was on the table across from the bed. I heaved it over my shoulder and walked over to the window. Fortunately, we were on the first floor, so I didn't have to worry about not making a jump. To be honest, I would prefer to get some sleep, but I can sleep later. Right now, I need to focus on getting to where I need to go.

I straddled myself over the window ledge and took one last look into the hotel, towards the door that lead to where my friends were sleeping. I was going to miss them. But hey, I'll see them soon enough. If they live that long without me around, that is. "See ya around, guys. Take care." I said quietly to myself. Then I leapt out of the room and onto the ground.

I started to walk to the exit of the town, taking in the quiet sights as I walked. The stores were closed down, and they had large cloths draped over them to signify it. Any camels that were still corralled were still tethered to their post. The sky was brightly lit with the stars, giving me a peaceful, seemingly content feeling. It surprised me that I could feel such a thing here, after all that had happened to me today.

As I was about to leave, I heard a whining noise behind me. Turning around, I saw it was Noishe. He must have seen me leaving.

"Hey, Noishe. What are you doing up so late? Get back to sleep now." I whispered quietly. The dog just sat there, as if to protest my words. I walked over to him and petted his head, trying to get him to soften up.

"Come on, now. You don't need to worry about me. I'll be fine. You should focus on watching over Lloyd and the others, okay?" I quietly pleaded with the dog. He looked up at me with those beady little eyes of his and licked my face before I could react.

"Oof! Hey! Come on, now!" I said laughing, as he continued to lick my face. Finally, he stopped and went back to his corral. I watched him go and then resumed my walk. I've got a lot of walking to do, so I might as well get started.

* * *

Author's notes: Okay, that came out different than I wanted it to. If you're wondering why I did the whole depression thing, I had to fix a mistake with my character.

Tren was acting like a Gary-Stu, with the whole super-strong thing going. To fix that, I had him get beat up by Yuan so his ego would be taken down a peg. That way, he could realize he needed to train to become truly strong without acting like a Gary-Stu.

Other than that, all you need to do now is leave a review. See Ya!


	11. New ally

Author's notes: Time for chapter 11. Tren has left the group to train; I wonder how the group will react? And what training will he undergo to become strong? You'll just have to read to find out, won't you?

And now, disclaimer!

Lloyd: Raenef the 6th does not own Tales of Symphonia, only his own stuff.

Me: Right. On with the show!

* * *

"…water…"

_You have been moaning for water for the past two hours._

"So what? I'm thirsty."

_You've only been out here for two and a half hours!_

"It's not my fault I didn't pack any water!"

_Dumbass…_

"Shut up."

If you haven't been able to tell yet, I'm currently still in the desert, hopefully near the Ossa Trail. I've been walking for a while now, and in case you haven't figured it out yet, I'm very…**very**…thirsty. I've been walking with the sun starting to blaze itself off on me for about thirty minutes now. Good thing I left early, or else I probably would have been fried.

I left the group to themselves, who're probably just now waking up from a good night's sleep. I could use some sleep, but I can't just fall down in the middle of the desert. I would probably get sunburned, then stung by scorpions, and then robbed. Then I would die. I'm rambling again, probably due to the heat. I need some shade soon.

Walking over yet another of the varying sand dunes, I finally catch sight of my goal: The Ossa Trail. Oh, sweet joy! I'm finally there! I start to run to it when I trip and fall face first into the sand. I groan and get myself up and try again.

Fortunately, I don't fall again and reach the beginning of the trail.

"Thank you, God!...dess? Yeah, that's right. Now to find some quality shade and take a nap." I say, glad to finally get a chance to rest. Walking across the desert with little sleep can be very tiring. It can also make you a little…demented. Yeah, let's go with that term. I walk over to the nearest tree and notice that the secret entrance to the mine is in front of me.

Quickly side-stepping to avoid falling and especially the little red lever, I walk over to the base of the tree behind it and lay myself down. I almost reach the ground safely when a sudden clenching pain shoots through my left arm, quickly reminding me of my injury. I bring my arm up swiftly and hold it still, scolding myself for forgetting my hand was hurt. I draped it across my lap, and it didn't take long after that to fall asleep.

Wait, if I'm asleep, how come I'm standing up? And why is everything dark? I hear a clicking noise behind me and turn quickly to see Trill standing…right behind me…making that tremendously annoying clock noise.

"AHH! What the hell are you doing?" I scream, shocked out of my wits.

_Well, I'm bored. Your mind isn't the most…crowded place. For obvious reasons…_

"Oh…hey! What's that supposed to mean?"

_Nothing, nothing. So…how you doing?_

"Um…fine. I'm sleeping…I think. That is, if you consider talking to a freaked-up spirit inside nothing but darkness sleeping."

… _I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that last part. You are sleeping, don't worry. I'm basically rejuvenating your body. You're dehydrated a little, so I'm basically rehydrating you. It wasn't the smartest thing to do, leaving without packing properly._

"Well, it wasn't like I could just waltz up to someone and just ask for some water in the middle of the desert!"

_I rest my case._

"What are you talking about?"

_Nothing, look, just wake up okay? You've got a visitor._

"Hmm? Who?"

_Just wake up._

Everything started to fade away as I started to come to. I could feel my body again, especially my hand. Trill forgot to fix my hand! Dammit! I like using that hand! I open my eyes for a moment and shift myself up, looking around for the person Trill said was there.

I opened both eyes to be greeted by the sight of a shadowed figure, with the sun's rays directly behind them. I guess I had been out for awhile, seeing as how the sun had moved. I decide not to bother with them, due to my still being groggy. "Can I help you?"

"Are you the Chosen of Mana?" the figure said.

"What? Say that again?" I reply.

"Are you…the Chosen…Of Mana?" the figure repeated slowly, probably thinking I'm an idiot.

"No…the Chosen's a girl." I answered, trying to get back into a comfortable position. Honestly, who would just go around asking for the Cho…

……..Oh, shit no.

I open my eyes again, this time focused on the person in front of me, who now has my full attention. The figure steps forward out of the sun's glare and reveal herself to be who I was afraid to see: Sheena, clumsy assassin extraordinaire! It all fits together now! The questioning of the Chosen, the voice, the clothing, the bow, the…uh…figure!

'No, no! Must not think bad thoughts about people who can kill me! Especially this one!' I chided myself for letting my hormones get the best of me for a moment.

"And just why do you seek the Chosen of Mana?" I ask politely, trying to stay calm and think of a way to move.

Sheena just stood there and stared blankly. She finally spoke after staring for a few minutes. "…I have my reasons."

Silence again. "What kind of reasons?"

She responded "None of your business."

I decided to mess with her head a little for waking me up. "Let me guess. You're going to kill her?" I asked innocently, as if the idea of murdering someone was an everyday thing. Which, in ToS, it kinda is. But that's beside the point.

Sheena seemed to jump back a little in response. I guess she wasn't ready for someone to figure her out so quickly. Then again, I did play the game so many times, I kind of memorized their whole pattern of behavior. "How…I mean, that's not it! I…uh…"

"Aha. You prove it's true by stuttering. You're going to kill her." I say victoriously, happy to use my knowledge of video games for something good. "I don't see why you'd do that, but it's none of my business." I said quietly.

I could hear Trill sputter inside of my head. _What the hell are you doing? You're just going to let her kill your girlfriend!?_

Okay, that pissed me off. "SHE'S NOT MY GIRLFRIEND!" I yelled out loud, instantly regretting it.

Sheena just stared at me like I'm a crazy person. Oh, great. Now the ninja/assassin thinks I'm delusional. "What made you say that?"

I feel heat come to my face as I feel embarrassment. "It's nothing, just babbling nonsense is all! So, why do you need to kill her for?" I said, trying to change the subject from me to her. Damn you, Trill!

She sighed and sat down across from me. Strange, does she have a fake story to tell? Because I don't remember Sheena being open in the beginning. "Well, I was sent here because-wait a minute!" She said suddenly. "Why should I tell you? Don't you care that I'm going to kill the only hope for your world?" She said, pointing her finger closely to my forehead in her action point stance. You know, the one she makes when she's all dramatic and crap.

I sat there a moment, trying to come up with a believable excuse. It's not like I want her to die, why would I? She's my friend…right?

_Girlfriend…girlfriend…_

'Shut the hell up, Trill, you bastard. And you better pray I don't dream tonight!'

"Well, let's just say that whatever happens to her is her business, not my own. I'm only a traveler, so I don't need to worry about world regeneration. Though I have met her. She's pretty nice" I said quietly with my eyes closed.

I opened my eyes again to see Sheena with a soft look in her eye. Seems she doesn't really enjoy killing now does she? "I…see. I suppose I could tell you my reasons." She sat down again when my stomach growled. I just remembered: I haven't eaten for hours! I held my stomach as it gave another growl, this one more painful than before.

"You okay? When was the last time you ate?" Sheena asked, pulling out a small bag from behind her. I took notice of this as she pulled out some apples from inside of it. I could feel myself drooling inside my mouth, staring at the bright red apples in front of me.

"…Not for a couple of hours…think you could, uh, share?" I said quietly, still staring at the apples. If I could just have one, I'd be so better off! She tossed me one and I caught it with my right hand. Yes, sweet relief! I dug into it eagerly, savoring the taste.

I stopped about halfway through my apple when I noticed Sheena staring at me, not even starting on her apple. Guess I was a little over eager. "Um, sorry. I haven't had anything to eat in a little while." With a little while being FOREVER!

She smiled and replied "It's okay, I understand. I've been like that before too, when I was too hungry. So," She said quietly, "What is she like? The Chosen, I mean?"

I stopped eating to think about it. I can either tell her the truth, or I can freak her out. I suppose I can tell her the truth. "Well, she's a nice person to begin with. She's a little clumsy…actually, she's very clumsy. She's friendly to just about everyone, even her enemies at times." I said quietly between bites of my apple.

Sheena nodded her head and said "Well, that's quite a person." She then put her head down. "How…nice is she?" She asked quietly.

"Well, she's friendly to everyone, like I said. She's generous, helpful; she even puts herself after others." I responded quietly too, wondering about how the others are doing. They're probably reaching the Fire Temple right now. I wonder if they even miss me…

Sheena looked up at me with a quizzical look on her face, as if she was scrutinizing my answers. I responded by staring back. "What?"

"Do you like her?" She asked quietly, her tone scaring me a little. It's almost as if she's interrogating me. She couldn't have said what I think she said.

"I'm sorry. Say that again?" I said, quite certain that she hadn't actually suggested that-

"Do you like the Chosen?" She repeated.

…Why the hell does everyone think that?! Just because I describe her in that way doesn't mean I like her?! What the hell?! "No, what makes you say that? That's ridiculous. I've only met her couple of times, that's all." I said, in a faster than I wanted to actually say manner.

Sheena continued staring for a moment before withdrawing her gaze. "Alright, suit yourself. As for me, my reasons are pure and simple." I could see her eyes harden with determination. "I need to kill her, to save my own people from destruction." She finished darkly. She looked up at me before continuing.

"Where I live, my people are threatened by the regeneration Journey of your Chosen. Every time that the ritual was completed here, my people suffered for it until the time came for the effects to wither away into nothingness. I was sent here to prevent that from happening, to protect my people." She then seemed to think for a moment before continuing. "I probably shouldn't have told you that."

I sat there and just took it all in. I knew that she was serious about saving her people, but hearing it here makes it seem different. "I see. Noble reasons. Do you intend to fight her here?" I asked quietly.

"Yeah, I do. This is the best place to get to her, seeing as how she has to go through here to reach the other seals." She responded, nibbling on her apple. Hmm, I wonder if I should tell her about the land passageway in the Northeastern corner of the Iselia region that bypasses into the Hima region. Nah, I won't do that. That would just ruin the game.

"I see. I don't know if you can kill her or not. She's traveling in a group with others, who I'm certain will defend her." I said quietly, now relaxing against the tree. Ahh, relaxation. Even though I'm sitting with a ninja who could easily kill me, the chirping birds and gentle wind make it nice to be here. Even though we're talking about assassination of one of my friends.

"Don't worry, I can take them. I'll have back-up helping me, so I'm not worried." Sheena said confidently, whilst pulling out various cards. Upon closer inspection, I could see scribbles on them. Well, I thought they were scribbles.

"Ooh, cards. Do you intend to gamble them to death?" I said jokingly, raising one eyebrow. Hey, I'm tired, I'm sleepy, and I feel like making fun of people who can kill me, so deal with it.

Sheena seemed to get the joke as she grinned. "No, these are seal cards. I draw inscriptions on them like seals or runes, which give them their power." She responded. She put them back into her what I could guess was her holding place for her cards. I noticed it was getting dark, with the sun setting and the sun glowing a dark red.

I decided to state the obvious. "It's getting dark. I need to get some shut-eye. Are you going to sleep?" I asked, wondering if she had some sort of secret hiding place somewhere. Damn, that was a stupid question!

Sheena nodded her head. "Yep. I got a tent up there on the cliff, so I can keep a lookout for the Chosen One." She got up and started to walk towards the cliff where she's supposed to jump from dramatically. She stopped and turned around to look at me. "You got a sleeping bag or something?"

I thought about it and almost smacked my forehead in anger. Yet another blunder in my packing skills; I had nothing to sleep on! "Nope. I guess I'll sleep in a tree, or maybe just here."

Sheena turned back around and seemed to be considering something for a second. I wonder what it is. As if she'd invite me to sleep in the same tent as her. Sheena's too refined to consider that, in that aspect. She turned back around and said "Well, if you'd like, I could make some room in my tent if you'd prefer it over the ground."

…Oookayyy, maybe not. I considered it for a moment, the pros and the cons, and decided to go with it. Though, this is a little weird. "Okay, if you're sure. It's alright for me to be in there?"

Sheena nodded and said "Its fine. I have a spare bedroll on me, so you can use it." She resumed walking to the cliff, with me catching up behind her from my spot by the tree.

We reached the cliff and she started to jump up the separate ledges. I simply stared bug-eyed as she easily leaped up to the top of the cliff. I stood there in awe as she finally landed gracefully. She turned back around and upon not seeing me, looked back down the cliff. "What are you doing? Get up here!"

Man, Sheena can be as oblivious as Lloyd sometimes. She obviously didn't realize I had a broken hand and was not a ninja! "Hello! I have a broken hand here! I can't climb anything, let alone a cliff!" I yelled back up. She walked away for a moment and returned with something in her hands. She tossed it down to me and I caught it in my good hand.

It…was a rope. She expects me to climb, one-handed, carrying my own weight, with a rope. Oh, joy.

"You can use that to climb up. It should be better than using your bare hands." She called out over the cliff. I sighed and started to pull myself up the cliff.

A few minutes later, I finally reached the top of the cliff. I lugged myself over the top and finally landed on my back, breathing hard. I don't want to do that again, too much like gym class! You know where you climb up the rope really fast, ring the bell, and then safely land back down to the ground. Not too much fun for me!

Sheena looked down at me and commented on my performance with simply "Took you long enough." My pride…it hurts.

"I'm not that athletic. Cut me some slack." I said as I stood up and dusted myself off. "I've only been training for so long, geez!"

Sheena looked at me with a questionable look. "You train? How much?" She asked, her eyes seeming to scan over me as she waited for an answer.

"Well, actually…I don't have any training whatsoever." I sighed out as I sat on the ground again. "If anything, the only training I have is in running, and I only know about fighting from watching others. And they weren't so good."

Sheena only chuckled and moved back to the tent. "You should focus on trying to get a workout lined out for you, if you intend to be good at fighting." She proceeded into the tent. Looking at it, it wasn't much. It could probably fit easily two people, three would probably crowd it. It was a simple grayish color, probably to camouflage in the night and day. I got up and stepped in and saw that she had already set out the extra bedroll for me. No padding on the head area, but the rest looked comfortable. She had already laid on her bedroll with a blanket on her body.

I laid down on my bedroll and draped my jacket over my body in place of a blanket when Sheena suddenly cleared her throat. I looked over to her with a raised eyebrow. "Yes?"

Sheena had a serious look on her face, so I assumed I should listen. "Look, pal. No funny business in here, got it?" I only stared and shrugged my shoulders. Turning back around, I got comfortable and waited until I heard her turn back around. Then I said "Wouldn't be worth it."

"Hey!"

"Joking, just joking."

"Oh, okay…HEY!"

"You know what I mean! Geez!"

* * *

I wake up the next morning, hearing the sound of birds chirping. I shut my eyes trying to go back to sleep, but unable to due to the ruffling outside of the tent. Oh, yeah. Sheena's trying to hunt Colette and everyone and assassinate the chosen. I roll over and get comfortable again and start to fade off again.

It only takes me a few moments to realize what the hell I just thought.

"HEY! WAIT A MINUTE!" I yell groggily, struggling to get out of the tent. I almost make it, except my jacket drapes itself over my feet and trips me. Yet again, I fall face first to the ground. Gravity is just not my friend today. I get back up and dust myself to see Sheena looking over the cliff like yesterday.

"What time is it?" I asked groggily, my stomach grumbling slightly with no food.

"Mmm, about 11 o'clock." She responded without turning around.

"Oh. Umm, how long have you been standing there?" I asked.

"Since 7. Why?" She responded, this time turning to look.

"…Isn't that a bit too early to assassinate?" I asked quietly.

"No. Usually I get up around 5. I slept late this time."

I just stared for a moment, wondering how the hell she does that. Oh, well. Back to business. I picked up my jacket form inside the tent and put it back on. Walking up to the edge of the cliff where Sheena was, I got a view of the horizon. It was pretty silent, save for the fact me and her were talking. I looked down the path to where the entrance was of the Ossa Trail. Looking down there, I could see a few people coming up the path. They look distantly familiar. Well, I think they're people. Their shapes are all blurred, so I can't tell.

"Uh, miss? How long have you been standing here?" I asked quietly, looking back at Sheena who was looking down the opposite path.

"Only so long. Why?" Sheena answered.

"Well, there are some people coming up ahead. A few travelers, by the looks of it." I said. Looking again, I could see they looked exactly the same…except a little closer. My stomach rumbled again, louder this time. I put my hand to it as if to muffle it. Fat lot of good that did for me.

"I take it your hungry?" Sheena said, walking over to where I was to get a look at the people I pointed out. I smiled sheepishly in response.

"There's still some food in the tent. You can have some if you want…" she trailed off for a second as she continued staring at the incoming travelers. She had that focused face on her again.

"Um, miss? Are you okay?" I asked, wondering if she was going to go psycho on me since she woke up so early. I woke up early once. I acted like I was sugar-high for about an hour, then I simply shut down. Not a pretty sight.

"I just realized something." Sheena turned to look at me with an "I'm so stupid look". You know the one you wear when you say an answer that's completely different from the most obvious answer that's correct? "I don't know you're name at all."

You know, I sympathize with her. In fact, in this moment, I think I feel just what Lloyd feels like when he goes to school. He just basically shuts down.

"I see your point. My name's Tren. And your name is?" I said formally, trying to restrain myself from walking off and smacking myself for being so foolish as to not introduce myself.

"Sheena. Sheena Fujibayashi. Just call me Sheena, though. I'm glad I remembered that, I was getting tired of being called 'miss' all the time." She answered, moving her focus back to the incoming group. I decided to register that to memory. Never call Sheena "Miss".

"Right. I'll go get some food, and you can go back to uh…assassinating." I said, going back to the tent and peering inside. After shuffling around for a few minutes, and being careful not to touch any of Sheena's stuff, I finally found some food. It was an orange this time. Oh, well. At least I'll get some vitamin C out of this. No scurvy.

I peel off the outer layer and start to bite into the orange when I hear the last thing I wanted to hear this morning: "STOP!" I almost choke on my orange slice at this. Resisting the urge to cough, I quickly stick my head outside and try to figure out who she's talking to.

"Is the Chosen of Mana among you?" Sheena called out again, her head tilted toward the bottom of the cliff.

I start to feel myself sweat at this. They honestly can't have caught up by now. I've only gotten away so far! I haven't even begun to train yet! Going all the way out towards the Fire temple, then going back to Triet, and then coming out here, would take them at least two days!

'Trill…' I gulped nervously. '…Is that…who I think it is?'

_No, it isn't. Calm down. It's just those traveling animal watchers that see Aska. They're only passing through._

"No, ma'am. The Chosen One is not with us at the moment. We are simple travelers passing through, that's all." A male voice rang out to answer Sheena's loud proclamation. I hear a rolling sound I hadn't heard before stop. I wipe my forehead with my sleeve to feel perspiration leave my forehead. Thank God it wasn't them!

"I see. Thank you, and sorry to bother you." Sheena said, stepping back to show she was leaving. Well, all she really did was take a few steps back while still looking down the path they came from.

"No problem!" the voice said again, and the rolling sound resumed, and faded away after a few minutes. I walked back outside to show I was still here. And that I wasn't scared shitless just then.

"So, who was that?" I asked conversationally, drawing attention away from my shaking legs. I need to calm down. Calm down, legs! Dammit!

"Oh, just some travelers. Why? Worried they were already here?" She answered, looking at me as I walk up to the cliff where she is. I put my hands in my pockets and try to play it off.

"Nah, I just thought that it was a little early for them to get here was all." I said, being careful not to look at Sheena.

"…Liar. You were worried. I can smell a little sweat on you, and I know that's not from last night, nor from this morning, considering how cool it is." Sheena said, taking a step towards me. "What's the matter? Scared they'll recognize you or something? Or are you afraid of being seen by the Chosen One?" she said teasingly, trying to get me to look nervous.

Well, it didn't totally work. I wasn't nervous, but upon hearing about them reminded me of their faces, which then made me remember the last time I was with them, back at the inn, where I was injured because I tried to pick a fight with Yuan and got my ass whooped…

I turned away with my head down and quietly said "Dammit. Why'd you have to remind me?"

I looked back at Sheena when I heard no response. Seeing her face made me stop worrying about myself for a moment. She was looking…concerned. A face you don't usually see on someone's face like Sheena. "What? Is there something on my face?" I ask, wondering why she looked that way.

"Did something happen between you guys the last time you met? You sound angry all of a sudden." Sheena said quietly, now turning away from the path to focus on me. Dammit, why does she care? She doesn't even know anything about me at all!

"What does it matter to you? Shouldn't you be more concerned with your mission?" I said quietly, tearing my gaze away from her to the ground below.

"I know it sounds strange, but you can tell me if you want. I won't tell anyone. Besides, I already told you why I was here. Can't I expect the same trust from you?" She spoke softly.

I sighed and sat down at the edge of the cliff, my legs dangling over the edge. "Well, it's a bit of a long story. Are you sure you want to hear it?" I asked. I kinda hoped she wouldn't, that way I wouldn't feel bad about it all over again. Instead, she sat down next to me and waited. I sighed, recanting all my memories up to this point. "All right. It all started…"

By the time I had finished, Sheena looked almost to be in tears. When I told her about my fight with Yuan, and she heard about me breaking my hand, she asked if she could see it. I held it up gingerly, making sure not to try and provoke any pain.

She surprisingly held it softly and looked it over. She grunted out an "Hmm" every few moments, and when she finally handed back my appendage, she asked who had healed it, I told her what Raine did.

"Not bad. She did a good job on it, fixing the bone and all. On the other hand, she missed key points which could have fixed your hand quicker. For example, the underside of your wrist? That wasn't healed fully. If it had been, your hand would have recovered at least a day quicker." She finished, still looking at my bandaged hand.

"Well, I can't really complain. I mean, I'm still glad I'm at least alive. I've got that to be thankful for, don't I?" I said, looking out towards the various trees that outlined the other hills and passageways along the trail.

"True, but I'm curious about that move you did, that moving fast while everyone else moved slow. You say that you fell unconscious afterwards?" I nodded my head silently. "I see. That's one of your problems. You don't have any control over your mana."

I felt my brain slow down a bit there. Wait a minute, controlling my mana? What does that even mean? "What are you talking about? Controlling my mana, I mean." I asked, curious to this new detail about life. This factor wasn't even introduced to the game, so I'm all ears to learn about it.

"How can I put this? It's like casting a spell. When you want to cast one, you have to have the right amount for the spell to have the desired effect. If you put in too little, it's likely not to work. Too much, and your spell might backfire on you. It takes some practice to get under control." Sheena finished finally.

Now this, ladies and gentlemen, is what broke my mind. If anything, this was an aspect that I had no clue about, meaning I had no knowledge of it, no way to predict how it works, not even a clue. Yet Sheena here means to tell me it's a regular part of fighting? This is just too much to take. "That's definitely news to me. Anything else?" I asked, curious to her observations.

"Well, what's the deal with you leaving the group behind? Wouldn't it have been better to have stayed behind with them so you can have some security?" She asked.

I sigh, hating that I have to repeat myself and my emotional experiences. "Like I said before, I thought about that. It's true I would have been protected, but what good would it have done? If I'm unable to fight good enough to hold my own ground, I'm about as useless as a piece of wood." I finished.

You know, it's strange, a little eerie even. I'm supposed to be keeping these entire things secret, so as to not get too involved in the game. I'm not even supposed to worry about things like this. All I'm supposed to do was defeat Mithos, and then go home. Now, things have gotten so out of control, it's ridiculous.

Yet, talking to Sheena like this, letting someone aside from Trill hear this, is comforting. It's like…talking to a sister or something. It feels alright. Sort of like a fuzzy feeling, yet different in a way I've yet to figure out.

I looked back at Sheena to see her nodding her head. I suppose she understands, seeing as she had that whole deal with Volt and everything. "Well, that's quite a tale there, Tren. I haven't heard many like it." She leaned back. "In fact, I don't even know where here is right now."

I responded by simply giving her a questioning look.

"What I mean is, is that I was put here by my village, without any guide or direction. So really, I don't know where any cities are or anything."

I nodded my head too, confirming that I understood. "I see. We both seem to have a slight dilemma on our hands." We sat there in silence again when Sheena suddenly stood up.

"Sheena?" I said, confused as to what she was doing now.

Sheena closed her eyes and seemed to be in deep thought. I stood up so as to not be looked down upon. It's a little hurtful to one's pride to be looked down upon. "Sheena, did I say something wrong?" I asked, ready to run if necessary.

"Right. It seems to be the best option." Sheena said, ignorant to my speaking. She suddenly turned towards me, making me jump back a little. "Um…" I said, at a loss for words.

"I have an idea. You say you need training right?" I nodded my head. "And I don't know where I am exactly right now, right?" Again, I nod. "Well then how about this? I can give you the training you need to help you become strong. I know many techniques and methods to making a strong body, some of which I use today. In exchange, you can guide me through this world, in case through some random twist in fate, I fail to kill the Chosen One here." She suddenly sticks her hand out.

"Deal?"

I thought it over a moment, weighing the pros and cons of this decision. On one hand, I travel with someone whose purpose is to kill one of my other friends to save her world. On the other hand, knowing there is a full guarantee that she won't kill her here, or perhaps anywhere else, I get to become strong and kick ass again, only properly this time. I like it.

I stuck my hand out to meet her own and shook it. "Deal. I hope you keep your end of the deal should it go that way." I said grinning, knowing full well it would provoke her. 'Sucker.'

"And just what does that mean?" Sheena said evenly, her grip tightening slightly on my hand. Okay, I might have overdone it there.

"Nothing. Just making sure in case that twist in fate does happen that you hold up your end of the bargain." I respond, pulling my hand away so as to prevent myself from getting another broken hand.

Sheena grinned an evil grin. I don't like that grin. In fact, I don't want to see that grin again. It's that sort of grin that someone wears before they do something either really evil, or really funny. "The same goes to you pal."

We both stood there a moment, when we heard noise coming from the entrance of the path. I walk back to the tent, so as to stay out of the way of Sheena's work. Maybe I should eat some more of that orange.

"Stop! Is the chosen of mana among you?" Sheena said aloud.

Yep, everything is going to go just fine…

"Um, yes. That's me." A voice said as well, equally loud. A female voice.

I stop in my tracks, and think of only one word to describe this new twist in my life.

"…Shit."

* * *

Author's notes: Alright, another chapter done! Now  
I can definitely work on SC. Read and review! 


	12. Darkness revealed

Author's notes: Welcome to the twelfth chapter of What's Going on Here, with your host Raenef the 6th!

(Random crowd cheers)

Thank you, and now, with the disclaimer, Lloyd Irving. Lloyd!

Lloyd: Raenef the 6th doesn't…you know what? I'm not doing this anymore. You don't even pay me! (Walks off)

Me: Um…Kratos?

Kratos: When…hell…freezes…over.

Me: I can do that.

Kratos: Err…then I'll just say no!

Me: Then I'll fire you and you won't get paid.

Lloyd: You pay him?!

Me: He's good at disclaimers. Watch.

Kratos: (now holding a microphone) Live, its Raenef the 6th's story! Which he does not own anything at all! Goodnight!

Me: Let's just get on with it.

* * *

Okay, this day just when from slightly good to very** fucking** bad!

I had acquainted myself with Sheena, who had allowed me some sleeping space in her tent for the night after I reached Ossa Trail. The next morning, I make a deal with Sheena to have her train me in exchange for guiding her through Sylvarant.

Doesn't seem too bad, does it?

And then…**they** showed up. Who are they, you ask? **They** are the Chosen's group, who I had left back in Triet for personal reasons (if you don't know, read chapter 10, you lazy bastards). I had hoped to leave them behind for awhile. They were supposed to go to the Fire Temple, and then go all the way to the Ossa Trail, which should have taken at least another day. Yet, here they are now, and I'm scared out of my wits.

Sheena was still speaking with them, after telling them to "Stop!" in her dramatic voice. After realizing that it was, in fact, the Chosen's group, I ran back to the tent and hid. I looked back outside to see Sheena leap down the cliff to confront them. This was definitely not good.

'Trill, what do I do?! They're already here!'

_Stay where you are, and don't let them see you. You could try to go down to another part of the cliff, and then observe from there inconspicuously. Alright?_

'Okay, I'll try it. If I get caught, I'm blaming it on you, you know that?

_Whatever, just go already!_

'I'm going, I'm going.' I cautiously step outside of the tent and begin to creep down the area where I'm at, careful not to make any noise. I finally reach a spot several feet away and poke my head out barely. Sheena and the group were still conversing, thankfully drawing their attention away from looking around and spotting me.

"Is the Chosen of Mana among you?" Sheena asked to the group. Colette raised her hand slowly and said "That's me."

Sheena drew her cards and charged at Colette. "Then prepare to die!" I laughed at this, realizing what was about to happen. Sheena would fall down, the group would go away, and I would be free to go!

Wait…If Sheena falls down the hole, and then I don't get any training. That's bad…Guess I'll have to help her.

Unfortunately, I was too slow, and before I could even move, Sheena had reached Colette, causing her to trip, flip the switch, and send Sheena down the hole. Damn, more work.

Colette got up and looked down the hole and said "Oh no! I did it again!"

Again? What does she mean, again? Is she talking about back in Triet when she crashed through the wall?

Lloyd walked up and said "Well, I do feel a bit sorry for her. Falling down from that height is bad luck, right there."

Genis walked up to the hole and stared down it. "She may be alright. Judging by the height of the fall, and with the gravity constant at-" I cut off my hearing right there, because I hate hearing all that science mumbo jumbo. I wasn't too good at science, okay? Get off my back!

I start to move when I realize my mistake. Moving away caused rocks to fall from my location. They were small, but the echo they made was loud in the small area. I froze out of fear, praying that no one would hear them. I look at the group to see Kratos' ears perk, and he suddenly turned in my direction. I jumped back and hoped he hadn't seen me.

"What is it Kratos? Something wrong?" Raine asked, noticing that Kratos had turned away from the group.

He stood still a moment, still staring at my direction. I could still see him, though it was only his head, I could still see that he was tilted in my direction. I began to sweat out of nervousness. If Kratos did see me, he'll be on guard and keep a lookout for me, making it that much harder to sneak around. That meant less training, which is not good.

"No, it's nothing. I thought someone else was here, but perhaps not. We should be on our guard anyway. She may have accomplices. Let's move." Kratos said and started to walk down the path, leaving the others to their own deeds. Everyone else looked at each other, shrugged their shoulders, and got up and moved along.

I sat there and waited until they had all left, then I breathed a sigh of relief. That as a close one. I got up and dusted off the dust that had gotten on my jacket. 'Well, now what? Do I go down the path and meet everyone else there, or should I help Sheena?'

_I would say that helping Sheena would be the best course of action._

'Right. Can't train without the trainer. But do I have to jump down the hole? Never mind, don't answer that.' I climb down the cliff and walk over to the hole where Sheena fell. I looked down and was greeted with the sight of darkness. Can't see anything, just great.

"Um, Sheena? Are you down there? Um, hello?" I called out, and received no response. Great, she's unconscious. Either that or she can't hear me. One of the two. Now I can either jump down the hole, or I can meet her down at the exit.

On one hand, I can jump down the hole and help her, thus insuring I remain her friend. The bad side of this is that I risk more injury to myself for falling down such a steep fall. Or I could just simply go to the exit and wait there. No pain and I get to enjoy the sunshine. But…I guess I could help her a little bit by getting her out. I need to find a rope or something.

"Uh, Sheena? If you can hear me, I'm going to go find some rope, okay? I'll pull you back up out of there." I yelled down the hole, waiting for a response. Getting none, I turned around to walk off when I heard a very…unfortunate sound.

The sound…of rocks falling apart, specifically beneath my feet right by the edge.

I froze on the spot, realizing that if I had put any more pressure on the ground, I would end up falling down the hole, causing me some unwanted pain. I tried to move my feet to get a better position, but the rocks just kept making that awful noise more. I finally lifted one foot and planted it down when the rock edge around the hole finally broke, removing the ground beneath me.

Hello, gravity!

I started to fall back, and I almost screamed, but my voice escaped me before I could reach it. I finally tumbled back and fell into that dark abyss backwards with my back facing the ground. I could feel wind rushing past me as I fell. I knew if I landed on my back, it was likely I would have been injured more, so I rolled myself around so my front was facing the ground instead.

The wind blew in my face making my eyes water. I shut them and prayed I would survive the landing. Finally, I reached the ground with a loud thud and a shout from me. My impact wasn't so bad. I still hurt a little, but it wasn't as bad as I imagined it would be. I finally raised myself up a little after resting a moment. I must have landed on a gravel pit or something, it was real soft.

I opened my eyes and let them adjust to the darkness. I could see we were at the bottom of the hole, where it was a dead end inside the mine area. There were a couple of boxes over to my left that seemed to be dusted over. I then realized something very important that I remembered I should have thought about in the first place:

I'm in the exact spot where the Sword Dancer is supposed to be. You know the huge skeleton guy that has four arms, and can easily kick your ass if you're not strong enough in the beginning? I should get Sheena and move away from here, now!

I rose up some more and looked around carefully to see if we had disturbed him in any way. After searching around, I began to wonder where he was. This was his area, the dead end of the mine shaft, wasn't it? Looking around more, I couldn't see any signs of him being there. I let out a sigh of relief, glad to have avoided that bullet.

"Sheena, where are you? Can you hear me?" I asked out loud, my voice echoing through the walls. I listened carefully for any sound, and was greeted by none. I sighed and started to get back up when I heard something unexpected: a groan from beneath me.

Now let's see. This could mean a few things. One, I'm just imagining it and I should ignore it and get up and go. Two, I landed on top of Sheena, which would explain why my impact wasn't so bad. Or three, I was laying on top of the Sword Dancer, who I had somehow crushed without making any noise or even putting up a fight.

I decided to finally look down and see what had groaned. I really shouldn't have though. Sheena, who told me no funny stuff earlier, was right beneath me, and had covered my fall with her…er…assets.

I felt my face immediately heat up and I quickly got up off her and leapt back to make sure I didn't do anything that would be considered perverted. 'Calm down, Tren. It's okay. You didn't do anything wrong. You just…accidentally fell on her. Yeah, that's it. Nothing wrong with that.' I told myself.

_Except for the fact you almost grabbed one of her…you know…in your hand when you got up._

'TRILL, SHUT UP!' I yelled in my head, feeling my face heat up even more. I was glad it was dark, so no one could see me blush from embarrassment. 'You know I didn't mean to fall on her!'

"Ugghh…what hit me?" I looked to see Sheena start to come to. She raised herself up and shook her head to clear off some dust that had gotten on her head. I immediately cut myself off from Trill and straightened myself. "Sheena, you're awake! Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Wait a minute, Tren? How did you get down here?" Sheena said as she stood up slowly. Seems she has lost her balance a little bit from the fall.

"I was going to help you after you fell down that hole up there, but I had to wait for the Chosen's group to move first. After they left, I went to the hole to check and see if you were alright, when the rocks surrounding the edge broke and I fell down." I replied, making sure to leave out the details surrounding where I fell.

"Right. So, where are we? This looks like some sort of room." Sheena said, as she started to look around the room.

"I think we're inside some sort of mine shaft, judging by the work equipment scattered around here." I replied. I started to walk around to see if there was some sort of door or passageway for us to use. Not finding any on my side, I decided to look and see if there was anything worth taking with us down here. Hey, the workers left their stuff here, and I believe in finders keepers, so don't judge me as some sort of thief.

"I can't find any sort of passageway right here. Is there anything on your side, Sheena?" I asked.

"I haven't found anything yet, but I'll keep looking." I heard her voice reply from the other side of the room. I focused back on my task, looking for valuables, starting with those boxes I saw earlier.

I walked over to them, and I drew a quick breath as I got closer. They weren't boxes; they were treasure chests! I quickened my pace and quickly kneeled down next to them. I blew off some of the dust so I could find a grip to open it. Grabbing the front edge, I lifted it up to find some sort of dark-brown colored clothing inside. What the heck is this?

"Hey, Sheena. Come look at this. I found something!" I yelled over my shoulder. Sheena stopped searching the wall and walked over to me and kneeled down next to me.

"What is it?" She asked, eyeing the clothing I had pulled out of the treasure chest.

"I'm not sure, some kind of clothing or something. Could it be some sort of under-armor or something?" I replied. I had no experience figuring out these sorts of things. In the game, you open the treasure chest, and the caption tells you what you got.

Sheena lifted it up and held it up to look at it. From the backside, it looked like some sort of shirt of leather. Sheena tried to shake some dust off it and had a little difficulty due to the leather being stiff. "Hmm, it looks like it might be hard leather. It's a sort of armor used for beginners. It can work well against natural enemies like bears and wolves, but isn't too good against weapons like swords." She lowered it and looked at me. "Tell me, do you have any armor on right now?"

I thought for a moment and said "No, I don't. All I've got is this jacket and this shirt, that's it." I felt sheepish after saying it. It was a foolish mistake to go around without armor on. It would make you look like an open target.

Sheena nodded and said "I see. Then you better take this and put it on. Better to have some sort of armor than nothing." She finished, throwing the leather to me. I caught it and gave it a quick sniff. It smelled a little strange, but I guess that's from age. I stood up and took off my shirt and jacket and slipped it on. It fit snugly on my body, but I felt a little safer with it on. I put back on my shirt over it and put back on my jacket.

"Right, now on to the second one." I said, then I walked over to the second one and lifted it open, revealing another strange sort of clothing. Did someone store there closet down here or something? "Now what?" I muttered as I lifted it up and was shocked to see it is pitch black. I could barely see it in this light, and could only know I was holding something by the feeling in my hands. It was incredibly smooth, and felt light to the touch.

"Sheena, what is this thing? I can't tell." I handed the article to her and let her look it over. I observed her doing what I just did, feeling its smoothness and its light weight. She suddenly gasped and her eyes widened. That's either really good or bad. I hope its good, because I could use some good news today.

"I…I can't believe it. For something like this to be in a place like this, how…" Sheena seemed to mutter to herself. I reached out to Sheena and tapped her on her shoulder to bring her back to reality. That and it's weird to see someone mutter to themselves like that. "Sheena? What is it?"

She turned to face me with a look of awe on her face. "This is gonna sound crazy Tren, but you just found a rare cloak, one that's supposedly been lost for 500 years." She said, looking back at the cloth in awe again. Okay, this is a little weird. 'I've got a sense of foreboding about this, Trill.'

_Same here, it's weird. Just ask her what it is already._

"What do you mean? Is this like some sort of artifact or something?" I asked, wondering also how something could exist for 500 years and still look like it hadn't even been used.

"This cloak was a cloak that was rumored to have belonged long ago to someone powerful. It was said that this cloak was something he wore at all times. It helped to shield his identity when he traveled to spy on his enemies, and it helped to act as a sort of armor, defending him from all the elements save for light, which was his weakness. It was also rumored that only he could wear it, or someone of his mana signature." She said, handing me back the cloak. "Look here, on the back."

She handed me the cloak and I unfolded it and observed the back. In the middle of it, where it appeared where one's shoulder blades would meet, was a symbol with a circle engraved around it. The symbol looked like a yin-yang symbol with one half swirled with black, the other with white. In the direct middle of the symbol, there was some sort of letter there I couldn't read. "Okay, what is this?" I asked, curious to its meaning.

Its times like these I wished I knew more about Symphonia, you know? It's frustrating to see someone act all scared over a mere piece of clothing. They act as if it'll come alive and attack them or something.

"It's his symbol. Everywhere he went, when he sent a message, or wanted to take credit for something, he would leave that mark. It identified him and only him. No one else dared to use it. That small symbol in the middle, it stands for chaos." Sheena replied.

I stood up and held the cloak around my hands. "So, does this dude have a name or what?" I asked, not really listening. I was thinking about how Raine would react if she saw this. She would probably freak out and start to "analyze" it. I suddenly unfolded it, wondering if I could put it on properly. "Do you think I could put this on?"

Sheena shrugged and said "Sure, go ahead and try it on." So I threw it around my shoulders and brought the clips together to, well, clip them together. As I was about to connect them, she answered my first question.

"His name was Erebus, the Dark One." Sheena replied right as I clipped the buttons together.

My whole mind froze right there. Erebus, the Dark One? The same Erebus that Genis was afraid of? This was his cloak?

My brain suddenly flashed images in my thoughts. Flashes of different places and people, with it finally ending upon a darkened face. The face had red irises in his eyes, and the pupils were slit slightly. He had two red marks running down his face from eye to chin, and he was grinning evilly.

I stopped breathing out of shock. I've seen that face before. In my dream at Lloyd's house, when I had that nightmare where I was at that temple, and he spoke to me, he said I would make a good vessel. I saw his face! I know him! I spoke to him! That couldn't be him!

'This is impossible! Erebus was…him? Trill, please tell me I'm wrong. Please, just this once, please tell me that what I saw wasn't what I think it was.' I stood there frozen stiff, save for the sudden quivering that racked my body. 'Trill? TRILL?!'

_Quiet, you idiot! Look, would you calm down! Yes, it was him, but that doesn't mean you have to panic! Calm the fuck down already!_

"Tren? Tren! Can you hear me? What's wrong with you?" I heard a voice cry out. I shut my eyes and shook my head to clear the images away. I opened them again to see Sheena looking scared. I was breathing hard, as if I had just run a marathon.

"Tren, what happened? You just sorts froze up on me and started shivering." Sheena asked as she put a hand on my shoulder to calm me down. I could still feel myself shivering and breathing hard. I just couldn't stop.

"It's nothing Sheena. I'm alright. I just sorta…had a vision or something I guess. I'll tell you later, right now we need to get out of here." I replied, trying to put the subject away. I took a deep breath and calmed my breathing down, though I was still shaking a little.

"Are you sure you're okay though?" Sheena asked.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Let's find that passageway." I said, and then I walked over to the wall Sheena was at and resumed searching for an exit. I finally felt a lever and pulled it down. The rock wall in front of me suddenly lifted up with a great rumbling sound, and stopped once it had disappeared from view.

"Let's go." I said, walking through the new exit-way. I heard Sheena run up behind me to catch up. We started our way out of there. Good riddance, that place had nothing but bad vibes in there.

We finally reached the end of the passageway when we came across that huge wooden wall put up to block out monsters from getting in or out. What was strange was the whole time, we were never attacked. I could have sworn that I saw one monster start to approach us, but when it got close, it suddenly ran off when it got a look at me.

Sheena knocked on the wood to see if there were any weak spots, while I simply stood in the background watching. I started to zone out when I heard some quiet muffled voices outside, probably due to this wall.

"Sheena, stop and listen." I said, walking up to the wall. I could definitely hear them, counting about five or so of them, it must have been the group again.

"What is it?" Sheena said, putting her ear to the wall to get a better chance at listening to what was outside.

"The Chosen's group is just outside of here. If you're going to attack them, now might be an opportune chance to catch them off-guard. Or, if you prefer to regain the element of surprise, you can wait for them to pass by, then wait for the next opportunity to show itself." I said, the words sounding strange to me as I said them. It was like someone else put them there for me.

"Well, I've got a job to do. I have to try to get them here and now, since the chance is still open." Sheena pulled out her cards and looked to be about ready to slam the wall with them. "If you wish to still remain hidden from them, you may want to stay back in the shadows and wait." She said without looking back at me.

"Right. I'll do that." I said, taking a few steps back so as to be hidden by darkness. It felt a little strange to just stand there, so I pulled the cloak around to hide myself better behind it.

Sheena looked back to see if I had taken her advice, then looked at the wall again and suddenly slammed it with one of her cards. It quickly fell and revealed herself to the group. They exchanged their words and began to fight.

To be on the fair side, Sheena put up a good fight being against 5 people at once. She did manage to do some damage to everyone, but the fight ended the same as the game. As she fought, I realized that at the end of the fight she's supposed to poof away. What if she forgets me and leaves me behind?

'No, she won't do that. She promised to train you if you guided her through Sylvarant, so don't worry.' I reassured myself.

At the end of the fight, Sheena was kneeling on the ground, panting for breath. She had a few cuts on her body, and she was really dirtied up. She suddenly stood up, still panting, and said "I swear I'll get you next time!" I saw her reach for something inside her pocket quickly and suddenly threw it down. Smoke suddenly appeared and she vanished.

When the smoke faded away, there was no sign of her presence there. I almost moved when I remembered the group was right in front of me, and I had to be careful not to give myself away. So I stood in my spot and waited for them to move.

"Who was that?" Lloyd asked, sheathing his swords. He was dirtied up some too, being knocked down many times by Sheena's pyre seals.

"Probably an assassin sent to kill Colette." Raine said as she walked in-between the group's various people. "Her clothes are strange, I don't recognize them from anywhere." She finished, putting her hand to her chin as if in deep thought.

"Regardless, we should be on our guard. Obviously, someone doesn't want us to complete this journey." Kratos said, putting away his sword as well. He was seemingly uninjured, only a little dirtied up from having to save Lloyd a few times.

"I wonder, do you think that she might have seen Tren? What if they ran into each other?" Colette said, speaking to Lloyd, who merely shrugged.

I kind of tensed at this. 'What the hell? Since when do they worry about me? Yeah I was their friend and all, but it wasn't that big of a deal when I left, was it?'

"I wonder if Tren's alright. We haven't seen him since he disappeared at Triet." Genis said, putting on a thinking pose. I was touched a little bit, to see that some people were still worried about me, but at the same time, I was on my guard. This meant that they were on the lookout for me, and I had to be careful for now.

"We should get moving, we've lingered here long enough." Kratos said, walking towards the exit. The rest of the group followed shortly after.

After watching them leave, I stepped out of the cave and stared after them. I didn't know what to think now. They were still thinking of me, at least Colette, Genis and Lloyd were. I wasn't too bothered by Raine and Kratos not caring. I looked around the area and decided it was time to find Sheena.

"Sheena? If you're hiding, you can come out now, the group's gone." I said aloud, my voice echoing through the area. I heard footsteps behind me and turned to look and see Sheena walk slowly towards me. She suddenly stopped and fell to the ground to her knees. I rushed forward and caught her before she fell. "Sheena! Are you alright?"

"I'm alright, just tired. Those guys put up a good fight." She said breathing hard. I decided to give her an apple gel to help, when I remembered our stuff was still back at the Cliffside at the beginning of the trail. I was about to groan when I felt a sudden pressure on my backside around my belt-line. I reached around and pulled out what looked to be my knapsack.

'Thanks, Trill. I owe you one big time.' I thought as I dug out an apple gel from my bag and gave it to Sheena, who drank it slowly.

_No problem, just don't forget it next time._ Trill said.

Sheena sat there a moment and let the effects from the apple gel begin to take place. I backed up and let her stand up on her own. She wobbled for a second, but then regained her composure. "Thank you, Tren, I needed that." She said, her breath evened out now.

"No problem. Seeing as how the next town is close by, why don't we head there to rest?" I said, starting to walk towards the path that leads out of here. I walked slowly enough so I wouldn't stress Sheena anymore than necessary.

"Alright. The only thing I left back at the campsite was my tent, so I'm okay right now. When we get to town, we'll rest, and then tomorrow we can restock if we need to." Sheena agreed. She then looked at me and said "We might even train you a little tomorrow, if I can fit in the time."

I perked up at this. Yes! Finally, I can start my quest to become strong. I almost leapt for joy, but I kept my composure. "What will I have to do?" I asked, trying to mask the eagerness in my voice.

Sheena laughed and said "Oh, don't worry about it. One thing though," she suddenly had a villainous look to her eyes, making me gulp and scoot away a little, "you better be ready, because I intend to work you to the ground. Got that?" she finished, with an evil grin.

I laughed weakly and replied "Got it. I'll be ready." 'Oh, boy. I hope it isn't too bad.' I thought to myself as we walked onward.

We finally reached the town of Izoold after crossing the field dividing it from the Ossa Trail. There were a few monsters, but I fought them off easily enough with a little help from Sheena occasionally. We reached the town and I was surprised to see that there was hardly anyone out right now. Considering that the sun is only starting to set, I thought there would be more people out. Oh, well. Some people are early sleepers.

We walked up to the inn and reached the counter. There was a woman there, who looked to be of about thirty or forty or so. She looked up at us and asked "How many?"

Sheena replied "Two please. One for each of us." The receptionist handed us two keys and we went to our rooms. The rooms weren't too bad, compared to Triet. It was nice and cool, with a good bed and a desk to put things on. I set my knapsack on top of it and decided I would go for a walk for a little while to clear my head. Today had been a stressful day and I wanted some peace and quiet.

I knocked on Sheena's door and said "I'm going out for a bit. Be back in a little while." I received a confirming "okay" from Sheena and I walked outside. It felt nice out there, it was cool with a gentle breeze, making my new cloak flutter a little around my feet.

I looked at the cloak and thought about those visions I saw. It was creepy to see them the first time, and I had no desire to see them again. Though, what Trill had said had frightened me. The fact that a legendary being had spoke to me in a dream, and that he was supposed to be one of the most evil in existence, could not bode well for me. Why did I have those visions when I put the cloak on? Did I go crazy for a second or something?

_You didn't go crazy, Tren. You merely had a forced flashback imposed on you. The mana signature within the cloak reacted with your own, and caused that to happen._

'But Trill, why did that happen when I tried to put it on? Didn't Sheena say that only someone with his mana signature could put it on? What does that mean?'

_Slow down there, pal. One at a time. What Sheena said was true, about the mana signature. I did a little research into it, and here's what I found. Some people in the past who've left objects to be handed down, imprint their mana signature into it so others couldn't steal it or use it for their own goals. Since he had left his mana signature in the cloak, it reacted with your own and revealed who had owned it last. In this case, it was that Erebus person._

I sat there taking it all in. If what he said was true, then somehow Erebus and I have the same mana signature. But, if we do, does that mean we're related somehow? 'So, what does all that mean for me exactly?'

_What it means is…well…that you are the only person who has a direct relation to Erebus. When he came into existence when you were brought here, he must have used your exsphere's energy and your DNA to create his own consciousness. He even went so far as to create a past for himself so as to make sure he had an origin point. Just be careful, okay? I don't want you to start going all evil on me like him, alright?_

'Don't worry, I got it. I just hope this doesn't turn out bad.'

_Same here. Make sure to keep it a secret though, I don't think it'd be wise to go around and let people know you're a descendant of Erebus himself. Not only would it cause panic, it would draw unwanted attention to you._

'Right.' I sighed as Trill cut off the connection. I can only wonder just how much more crazy this whole thing is going to be. It all seems so different than before. Not only do I have to worry about the Journey, now I have to worry about a dark being who is somehow related to me. I can only hope that tomorrow is better than today.

* * *

Author's notes: Well, this is getting complicated. It seems the journey just got a lot more hectic for our main character. How will his knowing of being related to Erebus affect his Journey? Read and Review to find out! 


	13. Training and departure

Author's notes: Chapter 13, Woot!

MitD: You do realize what chapter 13 is, don't you?

Me: No, what?

MitD: It's the emo chapter, remember?

Me: NOT THE EMO CHAPTER! Warning: Certain parts of the chapter will contain emo parts, so sorry. I'll try to make it funny. I own nothing.

* * *

Today…is shaping up to not be a good day today! In fact, it's a very bad day! So far today, I've gotten no sleep, had very little for Breakfast, and I'm currently laying facedown on the ground with Sheena laughing her ass off! And to top it off, it's raining!

Err…maybe I should start from the beginning…

We had arrived in Izoold finally, after leaving the Ossa Trail after having Sheena get beaten by the Chosen's group. After arriving, I talked with Trill to find out that I'm related to this dude named Erebus, who's starting to creep me out a little. I haven't even met the guy in person; he's supposed to be dead! Yet everyone I hear talk about him, gets the shit scared out of them. I can't make any sense of any of this!

And then there's the chosen's group, who I've just learned is looking for me. As if that's supposed to help! I'm being trained by the person trying to kill them, I need to remain hidden! It's not like I can just jump out and rejoin after being missing for so long!

…Okay, maybe I can. But I'm not gonna anytime soon, so shut up!

I wake up to someone's voice to my side. "Tren, wake up."

I shuffle in my sheets, thinking I had dreamed it and tried to go back to sleep.

"Tren, wake up." The voice said again.

I shuffled again, putting the pillow over my head to block out the annoying noise. It was trying to wake me up, and I didn't want to wake up.

"TREN, WAKE UP!" The voice yelled, throwing the sheets off.

"ARRGH!" I yelled as I got thrown off my bed. I fell to the ground, face-first, putting me in pain. I get up and look at my attacker with blurry vision. "What do you want?" I grumbled, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes.

"It's time to wake up, you idiot." The figure said. I let my eyes re-adjust their vision to see Sheena standing there in her regular clothes. She looks slightly pissed off at me. Yeah, well I'm pissed off too!

"Sheena, what time is it? It can't be morning already." I said as I walked over to the window to look outside. If only there was something to look at, besides the darkness. This is odd.

"It's 4 O'clock, now get up, we have work to do." Sheena said. Oh, it's 4 O'clock in the morning. Wait…what?

"4 O'CLOCK! WHAT COULD WE POSSIBLY DO AT 4 O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING?" I yelled in frustration. No sane person wakes up at 4 in the morning unless they have a decent excuse!

"Would you be quiet?! You'll wake up the whole inn if you keep shouting like that!" She yelled back. "Besides, you need to start training now!"

I yawned in response to her first answer. "Can't we wait?"

She shook her head no and responded "Trust me, when I start, your gonna need all the time in the world to finish." She stated with an evil smile.

…That is one scary evil smile. I don't like seeing that evil smile; I bet it promises pain…

"Um…okay. I'll change and grab some breakfast." I said as I threw my jeans back on. I slept in my boxers, because it was hot under all the blankets, and I couldn't sleep. I throw on my jacket and start to walk out the door when Sheena stops me by sticking her arm out, blocking the door. "What are you doing?" I ask.

"We can't afford to eat breakfast; we'll get some while we're out." Sheena replied, walking outside before me. As she walked down the hallway, my stomach protested as she said that. I was hungry _now_! Not later! I want to eat now!

"I have money. I can eat using it!" I exclaim, seeing a way around Sheena's excuse.

"We need that to pay to get across the sea. Don't worry; I'll get us some food while we're out. Now let's go." She replied without looking back. I walked outside after her, holding my stomach and trying to quell its rage.

We walked outside of the inn, which was surprisingly quiet. However, I guess most people aren't up at 4 in the morning, so there you go. The same could be said outside. It was still dark, and I could see no merchants or booths open for business. How Sheena has food, I don't know.

"So how are we going to get food?" I asked in response to my stomach growling again. I really need to get some food, now!

"I have some on me, but first, we need to get some stuff in the woods." She replied. Wait, the woods? That's like, a half-hour walk from here! Is she crazy?

"That'll take us forever, Sheena! Isn't there some other way?" I asked desperately.

"No, there isn't! And if you ask me again, you won't be getting anything, clear?" She threatened, looking over her shoulder with a serious expression. I felt myself flinch under the hard stare.

"Yes, ma'am. Sorry, ma'am. It won't happen again, ma'am." I said quickly, trying to appease the anger that I had created. Sheena's shoulders started quivering and she soon started laughing. "What…what's so funny?"

Sheena turned around, now smiling. "I was kidding. I wouldn't make my friend starve. Besides, you need to eat something so you can have some energy."

I relaxed a little, comforted by the knowledge that I would have food soon enough. "Um, okay." I said quietly, and kept walking.

* * *

**Thirty minutes later**

We finally reached the edge of the forest, with me dragging my feet along. My hunger had gotten worse as we went, and every growl was making me hurt. I definitely need some food now; I refuse to go any further until I get some!

Sheena must have ready my thoughts because she finally stopped, making me stop walking as well. She turned around and said "Alright, we're here. First, you need to go get some firewood. Go in the forest and find some, then bring it back here."

Jeez, she's full of orders today! "Alright, be back in a little bit." I replied, walking into the forest. It was kinda hard to see, due to the lack of light. I stumbled a few times as I walked around. Hey, you try doing what I do, let's see you be perfectly stable. As I walked, I picked up various sticks and logs along my path. After getting what I thought was enough, I turned directly around and went back the exact way I came.

Dropping the wood in a pile at my feet, I dusted my hands off of the dust and various wood bits that had rubbed off of the branches. Sheena looked it over and said "Alright, good. Now, take this pan and go find a river and fill it with water." She finished and handed me a small black pan. You know, like the ones you used for cooking in a kitchen.

I looked at her with a confused expression. "Sheena? Where am I gonna find a river in here?" I asked, silently wondering to myself where the hell she had pulled that out from. There is no way that could have fit simply in a pocket. It just wouldn't work!

"I don't know, just search around and find one. When you do, get some clean water and fill it up, then bring it back here. I'll wait here and get the fire going." Sheena replied, taking two sticks and rubbing them together to try to make a spark. Why does she get the easy jobs?

"Alright, back into the creepy forest…again." I said to myself as I walked along the path I used from before. I held the pan at my side, letting it bump against my leg occasionally. Looking around me, I couldn't see anything farther than a few feet away. How am I supposed to find water out here?

A breeze caught up with me and blew through the trees, making them sway gently. I drew my jacket closer to me to keep some warmth on my body. I almost forgot; early morning equals cold air! "Burr…I hate the cold." I whispered to myself. I should have brought that cloak with me. I continued walking through what I assume to be the path from before. From the beginning, it looked the same, but now it doesn't. I hope I can find my way back at least!

I listen carefully for any noise, trying to find the river. Nothing, except my own footsteps and the leaves rustling around me form the breeze. Wait, breeze? There is no breeze…so how are the leaves moving? I stop walking and as soon as I stop, the leaves stop rustling. Is something following me?

"Hello? Is someone out there?" I spoke softly, trying to keep calm. It's not easy to stay relaxed in my situation: I'm in a dark forest, with something rustling around me other than the leaves. I'm armed with only my fists and a pan. If it's a hostile person, I am _so _screwed!

I listen carefully for a response, and receiving none, I continue onwards, though quicker now. The rustling noise continues, following behind me as I go. Okay, something is definitely following me. Maybe it will go away if I ignore it? I pick up my pace to try and leave it behind. It apparently picked up its pace as well, seeing as how the noise sped up as well.

Okay, this is weird. Who else could be out here besides me and Sheena? Oh, how I hate scary shit like this! This is why I don't watch scary movies: Not only are they predictable, some movies can be very, **very**, gruesome. I don't like gruesome.

I finally see a river to my left. Hallelujah! I quickly change pace to speed up to reach the river and hopefully leave my pursuer behind. Leaping through the final bush separating me from my goal, I reach the river, which is colored a dark blue due to a reflection from the moon above. I turn around to see if whatever it was following me had left the forest.

Nothing. Must have been a hare or something trying to follow me. I breathed a sigh of relief and calmed down, regaining control of my pulse. Kneeling down to the river, I took the pan out and scooped some of the water out. It appeared clean to me, so I got up and carefully trekked back to the camp. Along the way, I cautiously listened to the area around me for that noise again. Hearing none, I grinned to myself glad that I had lost whatever it was that had followed me.

I finally came upon Sheena again at our campsite area, where she had gotten a good fire going, casting some light around the area. She looked up and upon seeing me, nodded her head and asked "You got the water?"

I nodded and replied "Yeah. Something was following me while I was out there, but I think I lost it. It stopped following me once I got to the river." Handing her the pan, she took up a couple more of the sticks and used them to prop the pan over the fire. I sat across from her on the other side of the fire. "So, now what?" I asked, my hunger being remembered.

"Now we wait for the water to boil, so we can fix the food." Sheena replied, staring at the fire as it danced across the logs. We wait? That can't be all we're doing.

"For how long do we need to wait?" I asked, curious to the time needed. I wanted my food now, dammit! If not now, then soon!

"Just a couple of minutes, it shouldn't take long." She replied, not looking up. Great, now what do we do? Play Go Fish or something?

We sat in silence for a little while, my stomach occasionally growling lightly, causing me to feel embarrassed at how loud it sounded out here. Sheena seemed to chuckle each time it happened, then went quiet again soon after.

…This sucks.

"So…" I started, breaking the silence that surrounded us as we waited. Sheena looked up and stared at me as I spoke. "What's it like, being an assassin and all?" I asked out of pure curiosity. We aren't told much about Sheena's point of view on her job, so I'm curious to what she thinks.

"Why do you want to know?" Sheena answered, raising an eyebrow at me.

"Just curious is all. Never really considered it as a career in my view." I said, shrugging my shoulders.

"Well, I wouldn't call it a career. More like a one-time thing. I'm a ninja of my village, so this sort of thing happens occasionally." She replied. She then reached forward and took the pan off the holding spot and sat it on the ground. She then drew a packet out from behind her. Okay, this is weird. I think a proper question would be, what does she not have behind there?

"I see. It must be interesting to have a life like that." I replied, watching as she dumped the contents of the packet into the water, then set the pan back atop the fire. Silence once again infected the air. Okay, this is getting old, really fast.

"What kind of training did you have in mind, Sheena?" I asked, voicing my curiosity again. Sheena looked up and closed her eyes in thought.

"I have a good regiment set up for you. We'll start after we eat. It'll first consist of a test, to see if you can handle my training. If you pass, we'll continue. If you don't, then you'll keep trying until you do. I warn you, it won't be easy." She replied. She opened her eyes and observed the pan, whose contents happened to be bubbling away. It released a tantalizing scent of food into the air, making my stomach growl louder at the smell.

Sheena smiled at this and commented "I take it your hungry?"

No, Sheena, I just happen to have a monster living inside of my stomach. OF COURSE I'M HUNGRY! Instead of saying this, I instead said "Yeah, because someone decided to make me skip breakfast this morning." I pretended to glare at Sheena in anger.

Sheena merely shook her head and pulled out two small bowls from, guess where, behind her! "Okay, ready to eat?"

"Yep! Bring it on, Sheena!" I held out my hands to receive a bowl of whatever she had concocted. Looking at it, it appeared to be…noodles?

"Noodles?" I asked in disbelief. "That's a breakfast?"

"Yes, it is. Now either eat up, or you don't get anything." Sheena replied, using a fork to pick up the food. Right, I'm eating now! Taking my fork up, I stabbed into the food and slurped it up. Ohhh, how it tasted! It was definitely good! Scratch waffles, I'm eating noodles from now on!

A few minutes later, we finished the meal and cleaned up. Sheena got up and walked in a different direction inside the forest with me following behind. We finally came across a clearing where there were no trees, just a simple field. I looked around and upon seeing nothing, asked "What am I supposed to do here?"

Sheena turned around and replied "Now we're going to start your training with a test. This isn't going to be easy, so be ready." She pulled out some kind of card thing and held it up for me to see. It was colored pure white, with something I assume to be runes written on it.

"This is a gravity seal. This is going to be something that you will wear at all times, everywhere you go. You will not take it off, unless your life is under threat or if I tell you to. Understand?" Sheena explained.

I nodded my head, and she continued. "Good. There are two types of gravity seals. This is the first one, and you will wear it until you've grown to become used to it like it's a part of your regular life. Once you reach that point, you can equip the second stage seal, which is much heavier than the first. Roll up your sleeve."

I complied, moving my jacket sleeve up past my elbow. "This good?" I asked.

"Yes, that's perfect. It's good to have the seal on a place where you can easily access it in case of an emergency." She walked over to me and laid it upon my arm. She then took a few steps back. "When you're ready, focus your mana into your arm and into the seal."

This is the point where I got confused. "Say what?" I asked.

"You know, focus your mana? Don't tell me you've never done that?" She asked incredulously. I shook my head no. "Okay, here's how to do it. Mana is essentially a part of you. All you have to do is feel for it and you'll reach it. Once you do, think of it being within your arm, and it will do so. This ability has many uses that I'll explain later."

"Alright, I'll try it." I said, closing my eyes. Now how do I do this? Sheena said to feel it out, so how do I feel it? Maybe it's like an emotion or something. I tried to focus quietly, feeling myself become tranquil, as if no one was there but me. I sat there, waiting for the feeling, when I sensed it.

It was strange, weird even. It was a swelling feeling, like something huge inside of me. Yet, it wasn't like an object, but merely a hole. No, scratch that, an abyss of darkness. One that would consume me if unleashed. I guess that makes sense, with my element being darkness and all.

'Okay, now to move it to my arm.' I told myself. I thought of movement around my arm, and the feeling started to spread to my arm. It went down slowly, past my elbow, until finally reaching my forearm where the seal would be.

And then, something completely unexpected happened.

My whole body suddenly felt like its weight had swollen to a ton. It was coursing throughout my whole body. My arms, legs, back, everything, was suddenly heavier than it should be. I yelled as my body fell backwards suddenly, pulled down by the weight. I tried to move, but it was like my muscles had shut off. Nothing was happening. "What's going on? I can't move at all!" I yelled in frustration. I tried again, but nothing happened.

"That's the point of the gravity seal. It makes the body's gravity become enormous, putting an incredible strain on the body. This is your test, Tren." Sheena said, standing over me.

"You have to get up and get back to the inn to pass this test before noon. If you don't, I'll leave you here until you do. Good luck!" Sheena finished, walking off behind me.

"Hey, wait! That's not fair!" I yelled to her, but she ignored me and disappeared from my view. Well, this sucks. I can't move, Sheena's gone, and I'm in the middle of a field where I'm an open target. Just great.

'Great, now what do I do?'

_I don't know, but this is funny to look at._

'Oh, shut up.' I sighed to myself and tried to move again. Nothing still. How long is this gonna take? This is like that time at school when Mithos and I got stuck in study hall with no homework. Our teacher wasn't allowing anyone to talk or anything, so we were bored. It felt like hours before we got out.

'Speaking of Mithos, I wonder how he is.'

_He's probably fine, seeing as how he's back on Earth. He's probably living a normal life right now, going to school and whatnot._

'Great. He's there having fun while I'm stuck here unable to move.' I thought bitterly to myself. It bothered me that he was on Earth while I was still inside this crazy place. It would have been better if He was still here, that way, I would have someone I could actually talk to about this.

I laughed at myself at that thought. He would probably be making jokes right now about how I'm stuck, and then I'd retort, and then we'd argue for awhile until we finally just started laughing at the conversation.

'I really do miss him, you know? He was my best friend.'

_It's understandable. You'll see him soon enough, you know? Just finish the journey and you'll see him again._

'Yeah, and the Great Wall was built in a day.' I thought sarcastically. The sun finally showed itself at last, peeking over the horizon as I watched form my position, waiting for my body to grow used to the seal.

'This is gonna take awhile' I thought miserably.

* * *

**An hour later**

The sun was finally up now above the horizon, as I continued to fight to get up. I had made some progress. I was able to lift my legs up a little off the ground now, as well as my arms. So far, no one's bothered me, for which I'm thankful. The last thing I wanted to happen was an egg bear come out and try to eat me.

'This is taking forever!' I whined, after moving my arms again, this time a little higher.

_Why don't you try moving your body instead of your limbs? It might help some._

'That's a good idea. I'll try it.' I thought, then steeled myself for the effort. I started to raise myself up, very slowly though, and I felt the presence of the ground leave my back.

'I'm doing it! I'm doing it!' I exclaimed silently to myself. Though once I said this, my back started to ache a little. 'Arrgh, this is tough to do!'

_Keep trying! I bet you can lift your upper body at the very least!_

'Right!' I responded, willing myself further. I started to raise a little, with the tops of the trees in front of me starting to come into view. My back responded again, this time a little more painful, but I ignored it. I was on a roll, and I wasn't gonna stop anytime soon!

I kept going at this slow pace, until finally my back reached a ninety degree angle with my lower half. I had done it!

'Alright! I did it!'

_Good job. Now, try to stand up!_

'Okay!' I thought excitedly. Finally, I was gonna get out of here! I started to pull my legs forward, until they finally were far enough for me to be curled up in a ball. I started to apply pressure to my legs and my feet as I raised myself up slowly, using my legs as lifts.

They started to ache too, making me stop for a moment.

_No, don't stop! You have to keep going! You'll be stuck if you don't!_

I nodded at Trill's words and pushed again with renewed vigor. I continued to rise, ignoring the aches within my legs. This kept going for about 10 minutes, until I finally stood at my normal height.

'HECK YEAH! I rock!' I thought, smiling to myself in joy. Now, let's see if I can walk. I turned slowly, dragging my feet across the surface of the ground, until I faced the direction that Sheena had walked towards. I told my legs to take a step, and they dragged one foot forward until it safely planted itself ahead of me. Then my next one went the same way.

'This is tight! I can walk again! I'll be strong in no time!'

_I'm glad to see you're happy again. It's not fun to see you act all mopey._

'Whatever. Now, I just need to get back to the inn, then I can continue my training!' I kept walking slowly at first, making sure to get my ground each time. Eventually, my legs got used to the weight and they quit aching. I continued to walk, picking up my pace slowly, until I could finally walk at a normal rate.

A little while later, I finally reached the inn. I slowly walked up the steps to my room, and opened the door. It felt good to be back. After depositing my gauntlets in there, I went to go find Sheena.

Fortunately, her room was next to mine, so it wasn't far. I walked up and almost knocked when I heard Sheena's voice. "How do you think he's doing?" Who's she talking to?

"Hmm, I don't know. Most people take about two hours to get up, let alone walk." The voice answered in a squeaky high tone. I wonder if that's Corrine. I've never seen Sheena talk to Corrine hardly in the game, so I'm not sure. Guess I could crash the party.

"Hello, Sheena? I'm back. Can I come in?" I spoke loudly. I heard a thump sound from within the room. Sheena must have been sitting on her bed or something and fell off. I chuckled quietly at this. 'And everyone says Colette's the clumsy one.'

She opened the door with a questioning stare. "Tren? Is that really you?" She asked.

I frowned at that. What was that supposed to mean? That I wasn't strong enough to actually do it? "Yes, Sheena, it's me. I did what you said to do. And here I am now."

"Wow, I didn't expect you to get done that quickly. Not bad, pal." Sheena said, opening the door to let me in. Walking in, I noticed that it was indeed Corrine who she was talking to. It had the form of a small fox, with multiple tails instead of simply one. They had different colors that were different from its original color of its fur.

"And who's this?" I asked Sheena. I had to make it look like I didn't know anything after all.

"This is Corrine. He's my traveling companion. Well, aside from you, that is." Sheena responded, petting Corrine between the ears. He seemed to enjoy it, leaning his head in the direction of Sheena's hand.

"It's nice to meet you Corrine." I said politely.

Corrine looked up from the scratching and held up his paw in silence. I sat there a moment before figuring she wanted to shake. I stuck my hand out and lightly shook his paw. "It is nice to meet you too. You look different than when I saw you last." He said.

"Huh? Saw me last? This is the first time I've met you." I said, confused.

"Corrine's seen you before. Remember when you were getting the water this morning and you said you heard something in the forest following you? That was Corrine." Sheena explained, sitting on the bed beside Corrine. "I sent him out there to test your ability to sense the area around you. You did okay, given that you were in the dark and couldn't see."

I nodded my head, understanding the idea. If you can't even see the enemy around you, there's no point in even fighting. "Okay, I get it. So now what? What do I do now for training?" I asked.

Sheena stood up and replied "It'll have to wait until we get to Palmacosta. Our boat leaves today in an hour or so. So for now, just hang around until we leave."

I could feel my face frown in disappointment. That was it? I wanted to do some more stuff. Yeah, it was hard getting up with the seal on, but now that it's done with, I feel bored. Sheena must have picked up on it and said "What's the matter?"

I shrugged my shoulders and said "Well, I expected there to be more than that. I mean, yeah, it was hard with the seal and all. But now I want to do something else. I've got awhile, so is there anything else I can do?"

Sheena closed her eyes and put on yet another of her thinking expressions. "You could meditate if you wanted to. I do it all the time. It helps to increase your mana stores and helps you to think." She finished and opened her eyes again.

"Okay, so how do I meditate?" I asked. This better not involve me having to do that 'oom' stuff, because that is downright embarrassing to me.

"Simple. You assume a position for meditating, focus on your mana, and channel it through your body. As it goes along, it becomes easier to summon your mana forth and use it for techniques. We'll train you in that next time. For now, just rest and get ready to go. We'll be leaving soon." Sheena explained, opening the door to let me out. I gave Corrine a final pat on the head and walked out.

Going inside my room, I quickly gathered my things and lay on the bed. The seal made my body seem heavier, making the bed seem more comfortable than before. I feel tired…

"TREN!"

"ARRGH!" I fall off the bed…again! How many times is this gonna happen to me! I get up again to see Sheena standing by the door with a bag slung over her shoulder.

"Time to go!" Sheena said, and then walked out. Geez, someone's impatient. I was only out for what, thirty seconds?

"Wait up!" I yelled, running out of the room and up to where she was. "What's the rush? We've got plenty of time, don't we?" I asked.

"We did. But you fell asleep for 20 minutes! And the boat leaves in 10!" Sheena exclaimed, picking up her pace as she talked. We quickly proceeded outside and towards the docks. I couldn't tell which boat was ours, so I simply followed Sheena. She walked up to a boat that looked similar to Max's, but slightly larger. A man was standing to the side of it, which was probably waiting for us.

He looked to be about 30 years old. He was a little taller than me and had a brown beard framing his chin on his face. Atop his head was a bandanna, hiding his hair. He was kinda muscular, but not too much was visible. As we walked up, he turned to us and stuck his hand out to greet us. "Welcome aboard my ship. The name's Smithy and you must be Sheena and Tren, correct?"

Shaking his hand, Sheena replied "Yes, that's right. Can you take us to Palmacosta?"

Nodding his head, Smithy replied "Aye, I can. We can leave if you're ready." Seeing Sheena nod her head, he walked up the ramp leading to his boat, with us following behind shortly.

It was of decent size aboard the ship. The deck had good walking space, with the mast and sail in the middle. The wheel was set up on a secondary deck above the first, near the back of the boat. I have to admit, it's nicer than Max's ship by a lot. Of course, we don't have five people on here trying to find a space to walk.

"All aboard? Alright, off we go! To Palmacosta!" Smithy exclaimed aloud, and then pointed at me. "You, there! Tren!"

"Hmm? Me?" I responded.

"Yes, you! Pull that rope by the mast, would you?" He asked, pointing to the mast. I walked over to it and yanked on it, pulling it back a few feet. The sails rose up as I pulled it back, and they soon caught the wind. We soon left the port and we were on our way to Palmacosta.

* * *

Author's notes: That wasn't so bad. I didn't like this chapter too much, but a story's gotta have movement if it's gonna go anywhere.

MitD: Isn't that kinda redundant?

Me: No, it's simply a strange way of explaining it. Read and review!


	14. author's notice

**To all who read this piece of crap I call a story, I have decided to take this story down because I'm going to rewrite it completely. Both I and my Beta reader, Music in the Dark, agree this is necessary. The new version will be up soon, and much better. To Mog of War and Moonshine's Guide, I know you liked this story, so I humbly apologize for this, but this needs to be done. I do however; promise to make this story much better. The things I'm gonna change include the following. Paramount, is the including of Music in the Dark throughout the whole story, in favor of Moonshine's guide. Next are our names, because they were just crap. Also, we're changing our backgrounds and introduction into the world, among other things that clearly need to be changed since they reach into the borders of Gary-stuness.**

**Thank you for your time.**


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